Agent Cullen
by PurpleReader29
Summary: This time, when Edward get Rosalie's call in New Moon, he doesn't answer. He disapears from his family and becomes a CSI agent. He is almost happy until one of the murder victims looks familiar.
1. A Normal Day at Work

Another day at work began. I rather liked the way I'd found to keep myself occupied and not thinking about, wait, there I go again. I will not think about her, I will not. Well, after I went on that murderer and other bad dudes killing rampage, I'd felt that I need to use my gift to track down bad guys. And I had found a way to do that without even shedding blood. I felt smart.

I walked into the building, nodded to the man at the counter, and went to a door off to the side. I put my finger to the identification scanner. Even vampires have fingerprints, though I was glad eyes balls or anything else was checked as well. The automatic door opened, and I entered the room beyond.

"Good morning Mr. Cullen." Katy welcomed me.

I could tell her mind was elsewhere, so I replied, "My father, where?"

Katy laughed, "Sorry Edward, you know I'm just used to calling men 'Mr.'" I did know, I was one of two only male she was on friendly terms with, and the other guy defiantly didn't fit the definition of 'Mr.' Thankfully she wasn't that into me, too into her work, because while I ran away, I always would leave that void for…

"Thanks okay, I was just playing with you." Katy went back to work and I continued to my desk. I looked at my message board, and called back to Katy, "Cool, we don't have another case yet."

"Yeah," she replied, "But it won't last long I bet." Just as she finished my phone rang. I quickly figured out it which phone it was. I had a special phone with the number the same as the day Alice was turned into a vampire, a secret she had only told to me. All the others just thought Alice knew an approximation of when she turned, but she had told me, even though I would have figured it out from her thoughts. Whenever I went on a mission, I took out the phone and typed the number so that Alice could call and warn me if things were going to go badly. My regular phone was the one ringing.

"Hello, CSI Agent Cullen here."

"Edward come quick! Grab Katy and Hannah and come down to my apartment quick." The voice didn't wait for an answer and just hung up. I could tell by the voice who it was though.

"Who was that?" Katy asked.

"Nathan wants us at his apartment. Hannah included."

"I'll grab her."


	2. Nathan's Discovery

_"Nathan wants us at his apartment. Hannah included."_

_"I'll grab her."_

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"Why do we have to come here every time Nathan calls us?" Over the last couple years I had figured out I could restrain my mind-reading ability to only a certain room, usually the interrogation room. When we left the office, though, it was harder to find an empty room, so I had to discipline myself to only answer to things said aloud. Hannah had been thinking this for some time, but only now finally said it.

"Because he forgets that he isn't at work and it helps his self esteem. Also, he likes you and wants to show you specifically something cool so you will like him." Katy replied. Hannah sighed. When we got to Nathan's apartment we noticed the door across from his was ajar.

"Nathan?" Katy called.

"In here." The voice came from inside the ajar door. Katy opened the door to find the apartment trashed. Books were thrown everywhere, and all the plugs were bare. A distinct smell reached my nose and I stayed by the door way until I had controlled the burning, wow was it strong! I stepped on a picture frame, and was surprised to find that I recognized the people in it. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard another, "In here" from the room that had to be the bathroom. I looked in to find my worst fears realized.

Bella lay in a weird heap in the middle of the floor. There was no way she was sleeping, the position was too uncomfortable. I backed away from the door, feeling rage rise up in me like a monster. Someone would pay for this, the trashed bedroom proved that Bella hasn't died or natural causes, and I felt it my duty to defeat her killer. I would try to find the killer by legal means I promised myself, but if it went to slow then I would take my own methods. Bella's murder would be avenged.


	3. Suprise

_I would try to find the killer by legal means I promised myself, but if it went to slow then I would take my own methods. Bella's murder would be avenged._

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"She's alive you dumb head!" Hannah shouted. I was in the doorway before she even stopped speaking. "She's just unconscious!"

"I didn't know! She looked dead to me!" I tried not to blame Nathan too much, as Bella looked dead to me too.

"She needs to be taken to the hospital then." I reached for Bella, who knew what damage had been done.

"Wow strong guy," Hannah had nick-named me this because I helped he carry all her gear, "I need to check if she's broken anything, because if she has then it wouldn't be safe to move her. We probably should just wait for an ambulance anyways."

"No!" I yelled, I didn't mean to make a scene, but I couldn't hold it in. I needed to get Bella safe as soon as possible, and waiting for an ambulance would only make it take longer.

"Edward," Katy asked, "Is there something you need to tell us?" I sighed. They had realized this wasn't a normal case for me, something any good detective should have noticed, but I still felt uncomfortable. I couldn't twist any hard facts; they would discover the truth when they looked up her record.

"She's an old family friend of mine; I just want to make sure she's okay. She doesn't need an ambulance if she doesn't have any broken bones."

Thankfully they realized that was all the information they were going to get at the moment. Hannah began the painfully slow examination of Bella, making sure they were no broken bones. Finally Hannah gave her diagnosis of no broken bones, and I picked up Bella. Her scent was as strong as I remembered it, but now I could ignore it better.

"Take as long as you need. Do you want us to figure out what happened? Since this looks like just a normal robbery, we would usually just turn this over to the police."

I shook my head yes as I looked over the trashed apartment. Then I noticed something.

"I don't think this was just a normal robbery." As Katy whipped around trying to figure out, I left the apartment.

My vampire ears barely heard her say, "You're right."

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**SURPRISE! If you saw that coming please post a comment. If you didn't you can still post. I had fun writing the first part.**

**P.S. How do you like my new chapter titles?**


	4. Empty

_"I don't think this was just a normal robbery." As Katy whipped around trying to figure out, I left the apartment._

_My vampire ears barely heard her say, "You're right."_

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I went the long way, all the way out of town, on the back roads, because it actually was the short was for me. If Bella was awake she'd be freaking at how fast I was going. How sweet it was to think her name. Bella. I had refused to say that name for so long. Thirst was becoming too much to ignore. I rolled down the window, but I knew I would have to stop and hunt. I had gone to long and I wanted to be with Bella until she woke up. I drove down the familiar hidden side road, and hid the car in its regular spot. Only one deer for now, I needed to get Bella to the hospital. As I ran I realized how giddy I had been feeling. I had my Bella and I was happy.

After making sure I could control myself, I went to the hospital. I didn't take Bella to the emergency room, only to the front. She was still quickly attended to after some extra payment. More money let me be with Bella even though I wasn't immediate family. I watched her for several hours. All she did was lay there. The nurses assured me she would be fine. I started to list all the reasons I should stay, and the list wasn't long, mostly selfish reasons. Then I listed all the reasons I should leave and stay out of Bella's life, and that life was very long. I had just stood up to leave, when Bella mumbled in her sleep and slowly, slowly, her right arm moved across her body with her right hand resting on her left arm. With a start I realized that was where I had put my hand when I had picked her up. Her right leg also moved to rub the place I had held her on her left leg. Bella murmured her contentment. I rang the nurse and ran from the room before Bella could wake up. I didn't want to startle her, and I still wasn't sure if I wanted to enter her life again.

The nurse came pretty quickly and about five minutes after that a doctor entered the room. I didn't want to enter the room and disturb the doctors, but I wanted to find out how Bella was. I also didn't want to peek into the room because Bella might see me and not allow the doctor to finish the analysis. The doctor seemed to take forever but I didn't know if this was because I was impatient or because something was wrong. Finally the doctor came out. He looked around and then as soon as he saw me he walked toward me.

"Are you Edward Cullen?" I nodded. "I'm sorry to report that Isabella has lost all of her memories." That was the last I heard clearly, the rest was heard in a fog. "I have worked with memory loss patients before and think I can help her. Do you mind filling out this form so I can know more about her?" I slowly nodded not really comprehending, took the paper, and left the hospital.

The air helped clear my head, and once I saw that no one was looking my way I ran into the forest that lay conveniently behind the hospital. I ran as fast as I could trying to wrap my head around the information that I had just received. Finally I sat down, not caring were I was. Bella had no memory. She remembered nothing. If she just forgot what had happened the past three years then my promise to Bella that "it will be as if I'd never existed" would be fulfilled. But everything? Bella would need help, and I knew the most about her except for maybe her mom. But if I stayed away maybe she wouldn't remember me. Finally I decided I would do Bella more help than hurt at this point in time if I entered into her life again, but I would enter only as a cop and an old friend. And to start that plan I needed to find out what had happened to Bella since I had left.

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**I actually surprised myself when I thought up this part. Me and my weird brain. To learn more about my weird brain, go to my new profile!**

**P.S. Please review!**


	5. What's Happened Since I Left?

_Finally I decided I would do Bella more help than hurt at this point in time if I entered into her life again, but I would enter only as a cop and an old friend. And to start that plan I needed to find out what had happened to Bella since I had left._

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When I got to work the next day I immediately got working on filling in the gap of the two years since I had left Bella. Thankfully the Forks Gazette was online for me to use. I typed 'Bella Swan' into the search box and used advanced search to find only articles after I had left. The first article had a picture that disturbed me greatly. In the picture, Bella was being carried out of the forest. At first I was mad because someone else other than me was carrying her, but then I saw her face. She looked like she was empty, not just vampire empty, but that there was truly nothing in her. My anger reached its peak, who had done this to my Bella, who had hurt her so! I looked through the article trying to find when the picture had been taken, and when I figured it out, if I could, I would have cried.

I was the one who had hurt Bella. This picture was taken the morning after I had left her. Bella had run around the forest looking for me all night. I could I have been so stupid! I should have known she would follow me. At least I left the note, if I hadn't Bella could have died! I should have found a way to tell her without having a way she could try to stop me. Maybe I shouldn't have told her at all, left her to be told by someone when we were long gone. Unfortunately that was in the past. I kept searching, needing to fill in the gap for Bella's sake.

The next article with Bella was graduation. 9 months with nothing to go on. I would have to dig deeper somehow. There was a picture with everyone from the class in it. It was a beautiful sunny day, Bella must have loved it. I blew up the picture and started looking for her face. When I finally found it I was surprised by what I saw. Her eyes looked sunken, but not quite as empty as the picture from the forest. There was a dark patch covering her and some of the other students around her, and guessed the clouds were making Bella look weird.

There wasn't another mention of Bella till a funeral. It took me a moment to realize it was Charlie's. I felt bad that I hadn't been there and realized how sad Bella must of felt. Bella looked nearly as bad in those pictures as in the one when she had spent a night running around the forest. In the article it told how Charlie had died of a heart attack about week before and that Bella was leaving town the next day, but to where was unknown. I was curious to see where Bella had left to, and how it led to here in Olympia, but first I wanted to know more about Charlie's death. In the pictures I had noticed he had been dressed with gloves, something I was pretty sure most dead people weren't dressed with. I searched for the article and found a picture of him the night he had died. He was abnormally pale, even for being dead, but I thought it could just be the lighting until I saw his left hand. A red crescent shape was clearly there, but how, and why? There was nothing more except to say that Charlie was alone when the heart attack had happened. Then I realized the date. A vampire rarely had anything to do with the date, but now, dates where vitally important. Charlie had died this summer, only five months ago.

Next I checked the records for Bella's apartment. The lease had been signed the day after Charlie's funeral at about three in the afternoon. Bella had lived here since then. I couldn't understand why she picked here though, Olympia looked just like Forks, and Forks was only three hours away for her to drive. Wouldn't this remind her of Charlie? Why didn't she go back to her mom?

I decided to go see Hannah. Maybe if I bounced ideas off her I could come up with an answer. I let my mind powers see her thoughts because sometimes her thoughts would come up with something that she wasn't willing to say. Her mind came up with great stuff. It was one of the most curious I had seen. Katy's mind was curious too, but she just thought about work and facts. Hannah was more caring and thought outside the box. But first, I needed to get something.

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**Hey guys. I just love surprises, though this one is sad. I changed Nathan's phone chat with Edward in the first chapter a little, and would love to see your explanations for this. **

**I have seen other author's say, 5 comments or no chapter! and I've thought about making that rule, but please prove to me i don't need it. :)  
**


	6. Hannah the Kindly, Observant One

_Katy's mind was curious too, but she just thought about work and facts. Hannah was more caring and thought outside the box. But first, I needed to get something._

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As I walked to Hannah's I passed Nathan's office.

"Hey Edward, Katy told me to tell you you were right."

"About what?" I asked like I was always right. Nathan laughed.

"About the girl's apartment. It looked like a fight had been fought in there. Especially the bookcase. It looked like something was rammed against it." I had noticed it was weird, but not the fighting part. I filed this tidbit away for later.

"Thanks Nate."

"You're welcome Edward." I continued down the hall and entered Hannah's lab. I made sure the door to the more was closed because I couldn't trust myself with cut open dead bodies.

"Hi Edward, how is she?" I debated whether to tell her or not, and decided I didn't need to keep it a secret.

"She's lost her memory." Hannah gasped.

"Is she alright otherwise?" I smiled. Trust Hannah to find the good in everything.

"Yes, she is." Hannah turned back to her work, and I decided I needed her help. "Hannah?"

"Yes?" She turned back to me.

"I hadn't seen her for two years before today, and I don't know anything about what has happened to her. Is there anything in her stuff that could help me figure it out, or even bring back her memories?"

She looked at me for a long time. _This boy isn't telling me everything because he looks like this is painful for him, but the words he is saying don't mean pain._ "She meant a lot to you at one time, didn't she?" I looked at her and decided to tell the truth.

"She still does." Hannah was quiet a minute.

"Can I ask her name?" I smiled.

"Of course you can. Her name is Bella." I was surprised how hard it was to say her name. It tasted bitter sweet; bitter because I had left her, sweet because I had finally said it. Hannah saw the hurt and decided to stop asking question and get to work. That was another of the things I loved about Hannah, she knew when to be motherly and when to get to work.

"She goes to Evergreen State College. I found a congratulation letter, and I recognized a report I had to do there. Mr. Wagner's special report. How could I ever forget that?" She smiled happily. "It took relatively no work and was extremely fun. I loved Mr. Wagner." Then Hannah was business again.

"Bella didn't seem like a typical college teenager. Most of her clothes are sweat type and she only had three things that don't fit that description; a top, a pair of jeans, and a dress. Her only picture had her and this guy that I'm guessing is her father. No pictures of friends or guys, just her and her dad. Also her fridge was full of home-cooked meals." Hannah was great, she noticed all the details.

"Her father recently died and she used to cook for him, so that would explain the leftovers. The pictures though I don't understand, she had a lot of friends in Forks. Also what I don't understand is why a girl would move to a town only three hours away from where her father died and that looks a lot like that place when she could go to live with her mother."

"Does she have a good relationship with her mother?"

"When I last heard from her she was."

"Where does her mother live?"

"In Jacksonville."

"What's it like there?"

"Sunny."

"Does she like sun? It's not sunny here."

"Oh, she loves the sun."

"Umm…" Hannah was quiet for a while. "Okay, I actually have two ideas. Maybe she wanted to go to college but still be close to where he died. Evergreen is the closest college to Forks." I thought about this for a while, but finally can with opposition.

"But why didn't she go to college before her father's death? She could have gone for a whole year."

"Was she dependent on her father?"

"No, quite the opposite. He relied heavily on her."

"Did she like helping him?"

"Yes, she was very kind to him."

"Maybe that's it then. She didn't want to leave him alone." I couldn't find a rebuttal to that idea. Then I remembered something. "What was your other idea?"

"What?" She took a moment to remember. "Oh yeah. Maybe she didn't want her mother to know her father was dead."

I pondered on that and decided I might be able to get some answers at the college.

"Thanks Hannah!" I turned for the door then remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot." I turned with a flourish reviling a dark chocolate bar. Hannah's eyes widened with want. "But you wouldn't want this would you? I should just give it to Katy."

"You wouldn't dare!" Hannah looked at me scared I wasn't teasing. I laughed and tossed her the chocolate bar. As I walked out the door I heard the sounds of shredding paper and a delighted "Umm!" Dark chocolate bars were the key to Hannah's heart, something Nathan might like to know.

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**Another change. Edward finds huge bruises in the shape of hands on Bella's arms and vows to avenge her at the hospital (chapter 4). I'd love to hear your predictions!**


	7. Gossip

I stood in the middle of the Evergreen State College courtyard and looked around at everything. The crowd naturally parted around me, though most didn't know why. Finally I saw what I was looking for. She couldn't have been any nicer to me; her bright orange "YEARBOOK" shirt would have been easy to see from the sky even without my vampire eyes. As I moved toward her, I decided that "boyfriend" would get more information than "cop;" gossip flowed more readily than facts.

"Hey, umm..." these kind of girls like nervous guys.

"Yes?" She stopped typing madly on her laptop and batted her eyelashes at me. I sat down and leaned in close like I was going to tell a secret. She licked her lips in anticipation.

"Do you know who Bella Swan is?" She looked confused, a bad sign. I acted like a lovesick boy. "She has the most beautiful brown hair and her eyes look like chocolate..." She looked like she was going to barf, and quickly thought about who I could be talking about. Suddenly, realization dawned on her.

"Oh, you mean Isabella." I was shocked. Isabella? When she had come to Forks she had told everyone to call her Bella. What had changed? "The one like with the Ego laptop, right?"

I nodded absentmindedly. I couldn't hide my shock when I finally realized what she had said. Bella with an expensive laptop? Thankfully the girl was too absorbed in her own speech to pay attention to me.

"I'm so jealous. Like, a handmade laptop. Only like two hundred are made of each style and _she _had one. It even was like a limited edition. Jan de Bouvrie, like that just sounds expensive. How she like got one is besides me and she is like constantly on it IMing someone." She smiled triumphantly and leaned in close. "Do you want to know who it is?" I couldn't help myself, I was curious to know who Bella would keep near constant contact with after her father was dead and she was in a new town. I nodded to show my curiousness.

"The name was VampireAC." I had an idea who that might be, but how she got in contact with Bella was a mystery.

"Do you know anything else about her?" Her eyes got wide with glee as she realized I wanted to know everything about this girl.

"Well, she's always like gloomy and she like hardly ever goes to any parties or like anything anymore. She used to, but she like acted like she was being forced to come. She would like only stand on the sidelines until like one time she actually tried to dance. She like tripped, caused food to fly everywhere, and then she like ran away in the confusion. She like never went to anything social after that. She like seems to go to classes in zombie mode and like spends all her free time on that laptop that she can carry everywhere because it has a handle and looks like a purse." She sighed, but then she perked up again as she remembered something juicy.

"And then once Jordan Hamil asked her out." I nearly growled, but again she was too absorbed in her own gossip to notice me.

"For five seconds it seemed like Bella had woken up, and then she screamed 'No!" loud enough for like the entire campus to hear and ran away again. After that she's seemed like even more zombie-like, if that is possible. No guy has like dared asked her out since." I had a lot to think about, and if I came up with other questions I could come back.

"Thank you for your time."

"Come back if you need help," she fluttered her eyelashes. _Especially if Isabella isn't the girl for you._ Her thoughts nearly got her killed.


	8. Reunion

_"Thank you for your time."_

_"Come back if you need help," she fluttered her eyelashes. _Especially if Isabella isn't the girl for you_. Her thoughts nearly got her killed._

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As I left the college campus I was surprised to hear a certain someone's thoughts. _Where is he? If he doesn't show up soon then it will be too late. Today is the latest he could come. _Who were they talking about and what was she doing anywhere near here? Then she really startled me. _Edward? _

I turned the corner to hear, "Edward!" Then I saw someone that I hadn't seen in two years running towards me. I know two years isn't a long time, especially for vampires, but it felt like an eternity. As they made impact I twirled around rejoicing in hearing that laugh again.

"Edward I missed you!"

"I missed you too Alice. Why are you here?" She let go of me and turned so I could see behind her. As she turned, my family was revealed. My tear ducts where pumping air to my eyes, I was so happy.

First I went to Carlisle and hugged him. _Glad to see you again son._

Then I went to Jasper. _I've okay now. See, no blood lust with a courtyard full of people. _Then the wind changed to blow in his face and certain thoughts entered his mind. _Okay, maybe I'm still working on it._ I laughed and moved on to Emmet.

We hugged so hard that if there had been anything in between us he would have been crushed. We slapped each other on the back hard as well. _There's been no completion at baseball since you left. _

Then I looked at Rosalie to ask permission. Rosalie was looking at me like I was a ghost, and I was confused. Then she shook herself out of it. _I may not like you, but I still missed you. _I gave her a gentle hug as well.

Finally I turned to Esme. Her tear ducts were working overtime as well. She hugged me with a warm, motherly hug. It was warm in temperature, but warm in love. _I missed you so much you can't believe._

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her.

"I know," she whispered back and hugged me tighter.

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**This is for all the great people who reviewed on the first day! (And to make up for long not updating and future not updating). It may take a while to get the next chapter up because I have like five versions. I'm trying to make the chapters longer, but this scene was so sweet I had to end it here, and a lot of info is in the next chapter. I love reviews! **


	9. Running, Again

_"I'm sorry," I whispered to her._

_"I know," she whispered back and hugged me tighter._

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"What are you guys doing here?" I asked. Everyone looked uneasy. Finally Carlisle answered.

"Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else?" Oops, I'd forgotten we were still on campus.

"Of course, follow me." We walked into the forest on the edge of campus, disappeared inside, and then ran until I held up my hand to stop. We were on a rocky hill in the middle of the forest, surrounded by trees. Here we could have privacy. Everyone took a seat before Carlisle spoke again.

"Edward, a lot has changed since you left. Alice hasn't been able to see you..." I looked at Alice and her face was accusing.

"You've been avoiding me!" Carlisle sighed.

"Alice, we agreed we weren't going to accuse Edward of anything." Alice sighed and called off spoken her attack, but her thoughts still we still very negative towards me. _I will get you back for it. You know I will. _By now I was thoroughly confused.

"Wait, you haven't been able to see me?" Alice seemed to be startled by the question and for the first time realized there was confusion in my face.

"No, nothing since you hung up on Rosalie. Like I said, you've been avoiding me." Carlisle sighed again, but nothing was stopping her now. "You don't answer your phone or call back, you don't send letters, and somehow you have stopped my visions!" I usually ignored Alice's rants, but this seemed like a sore point for everyone.

"What do you mean? Yeah I ignored you! I told Rosalie to tell you I didn't want to remember the pain anymore! To tell you I'd had enough of your pestering! Then I threw the phone in the river! That's why I haven't answered, and I haven't sent you letters because I wanted to be alone!" I looked at my family's wide pained eyes, my anger spent. "I don't know why your visions weren't working Alice, and I did leave a way to contact me, just in case. I got a phone with a number only you would know Alice," she thought it and I nodded, "and I typed the number on the screen of my phone before every mission so you could warn me if things were going to go wrong." Silence reigned for a short while before Alice answered.

"Maybe I could have figured out the phone if I wasn't worried about getting a vision of you." She paused before completing what she wanted to say. "We thought you were dead." I was taken aback. Dead? Had she really skipped all the way to that conclusion?

"Why would you think that?" Alice looked at Carlisle, and he was the one who spoke.

"Because of what you had said to Rosalie. I've had enough, don't want to remember anymore; we thought you were committing suicide. Alice can't see dead people, so we didn't know what to think." Silence reigned again. Everyone was unsure of what to say next. Esme in particular had lots of fragments in her head, trying to find the right way to fit together. Finally she found what she was looking for.

"Why are you here?" I knew the question she really wanted to say, but couldn't because she wasn't sure it I had meet her. I sighed and finally spoke her name out loud after two years.

"Bella is in the hospital with no memories." Everyone was shocked. Shocked that I knew about Bella. Shocked that I would say her name. Shocked at Bella's condition.

"How did you find out?" Esme asked. In reply, I flipped out my badge.

"My brother's a police officer!" Emmett hooted like a child with candy.

"CSI actually." I corrected him. Usually I got angry when someone demoted me, but right then I couldn't be mad at my long lost brother. That would come tomorrow. I noticed Carlisle looked concerned, so I decided to put his mind to rest.

"I have not added one person to my record. They all went to jail, were they're supposed to be." Carlisle came and hugged me. _I'm so proud of you. _Coming from Carlisle, that meant a lot.

"Is Bella in that big of trouble?" Alice asked. I laughed at that.

"No, my overreacting friend just wanted to impress a girl by finding us a case." Everyone laughed at that. Remembering my job made me remember something else as well. "Did you hear about Charlie's death?" I heard a lot of confused thoughts, offering neither a negative or positive response. Finally Alice answered.

"Yes we did." This next question was a shot in the dark, and I almost hoped they didn't know the answer, because it could, very unlikely though, have been one of them.

"Who bite him?" Alice was quite surprised by my answer, she decided to answer, but took a deep breath before she did.

"Victoria."

"Who?"

"James' girlfriend." I was instantly transported back to that night. I remembered thinking that the female was almost as dangerous as the male, but the immediate danger and blocked thought of later danger. I had been so caught up in protecting Bella from James that I had forgotten about Victoria. I never would have left if I had thought that Bella had been in any danger. Now I almost had Charlie's blood on my hands because if I had never meet Bella he would be alive. Then I realized something.

"But why Charlie?"

"She was after Bella and he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." If I had been there, Charlie would still be alive. Another reason I almost had Charlie's blood on my hands. Suddenly I grew mad at the person who did have Charlie's blood on their hands. Then I realized two things. One, anger was clouding my thinking, second....

"How do you know it was Victoria?" Alice looked startled and thoughts swirled as she decided what to say. Then she looked at Carlisle. By now I had figured out they were keeping something from me, but I didn't know what. My curiosity was soon quenched though, as Carlisle decided to be the one to answer my question.

"Alice kept tabs on Bella, just in case, and when she saw Victoria attacking Bella we knew she would need help. She would be hurt by her father's death and would probably need protection from Victoria as well. We knew she would die if we didn't help her, that's the only reason we returned." I knew they probably thought I was mad at them, but I wasn't. They had done the right thing, going save Bella when she couldn't defend herself. I was still mad at myself though, for allowing the opportunity for Bella to be in danger and for Charlie to be killed. I was diverted from by thoughts when Rosalie surprisingly spoke.

"Edward, why did you leave us? Nothing good came of it." I stood there in shock for a few moments before I turned to Carlisle.

"Is what she says true?" Carlisle looked at me and saw the hurt in my eyes. He took so long I was afraid he wasn't going to answer me.

"The only thing good, if it can be called good, is that your family learned how much they loved you." I reeled back in shock. Carlisle's try to soften the plow only increased it. Carlisle had had to try really hard to find something good, and even he admitted that the thing he thought of was not really good. It actually was really bad, my family had hurt because of me. Suddenly, I wasn't holding still anymore, I was running. Running away from the hurt I'd caused. Running away because I had run away.

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**This was the hardest chapter to write! I kept changing my mind as to what I was going have Edward (and you guys) find out. I hope your curiosity was quenched along with Edward's for now! :)**

**P.S. I LOVE reviews!!!! hint, hint, nudge, nudge, ;), ;) (wink, wink)  
**


	10. Which side are you on?

_Suddenly, I wasn't holding still anymore, I was running. Running away from the hurt I'd caused. Running away because I had run away._

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I ran around most of the night trying to figure things out. Finally I ended up looking at Bella once again. This time she was sleeping, rather than unconscious though, and instead of being right beside her, there was a pane of glass in the way. I noticed she was restless, murmuring again and again, "Blank, blank. Where did they go?" Bella was having a hard time with no memories. Alice eventually joined me, but I wasn't annoyed like I used to when she found me, instead I was embarrassed for running away.

"I thought you couldn't see me." When she didn't answer, I turned to look at her. Her face was full of confusion.

"It's like I was blindfolded and now I can see. I don't understand it." I was quite confused as well.

"Maybe if someone doesn't want to be looked at it stops your visions. No one has really tried to hide from you before." She looked quite thoughtful.

"Maybe that's it. It sure would fit the bill." I was looking at her trying to figure out if there was something she wasn't telling me when I heard Bella move. I quickly moved to where Bella couldn't see me, and then motioned to Alice to follow me. She rolled her eyes and moved closer to me.

"She's not going to wake up anytime soon, you know. Why are you hiding from her anyway?" I carefully planned my answer before speaking.

"I'm just not sure if I want to enter her life again, I don't know if that will just hurt her more."

"Edward," Alice almost put her hand over her own mouth, and then instead plowed on. "There is only one way that you could hurt Bella by entering her life again, and that is if you left her again after that." I looked at Alice trying to believe what she said was true, but all my fears of hurting Bella surfaced again.

"I'm just not sure Alice. I just need some time." Alice looked like she wanted to say something, but for some reason she didn't. Alice moved back to look at Bella and I followed her.

"Do you want Bella to get her memories back?" I was shocked.

"Of course, why not?" Did she think I was that mean? When she answered, her voice sounded far away.

"It's just, she wouldn't remember anything. None of the pain would exist."

"What pain?" Alice nearly jumped, like she had be startled, but Alice startled?

"The pain of loosing her father, and she also wouldn't be afraid of Victoria. We could kill Victoria, and Bella would be normal." I was confused be Alice's train of thought.

"Are you for or against Bella getting her memory back?" Alice once again appeared to be shocked. She must have been in her own little world. She thought for a while about my question before answering.

"I'm not sure. It would depend on the future, and there are no firm decisions on Bella getting or not getting her memories yet. Are you for or against?" I thought about my answer for a while as well, but not nearly as long since I had had time to think about it before.

"For, because even without memories, Bella's still Bella, and she will find a way no matter what we do. Hopefully though, I can make it so she never remembers me." Alice nodded thoughtfully.

"Would me trying to help her regain her memories go against that plan?" I had to think hard about that one.

"Yes, but who else can help her?" Alice waited in silence for a while before I realized she was looking expectantly at me. "That's a yes." Alice jumped up and down and clapped her hands happily.

"You better go, she's about to wake up." As I walked away, I turned back to see Alice skipping in Bella's room. All I wanted was for Bella to be happy.


	11. Are you okay?

As I walked away, I turned back to see Alice skipping in Bella's room. All I wanted was for Bella to be happy.

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I wasn't ready to face the rest of my family yet and it was morning, so I went to work. I was slightly late, but that wasn't a problem since we weren't working on any real cases and our director was on a well deserved vacation. I was surprised not to see Katy, as she is usually early, and went to talk to Nathan. When I asked if he had seen Katy, he looked at me funny.

"No one has seen her after we were all at the girl's apartment. She went home with a fever. Didn't you notice she was missing yesterday?" Now I felt bad. I'd been so preoccupied about Bella that I hadn't even noticed that Katy wasn't there. Then Nathan startled me.

"You really love that girl, don't you?" I flinched. Hannah is observant, but if Nathan notices, it has to be real obvious. I decided to change the subject.

"Yeah. Hey, speaking of lovers, did you know that Hannah would do almost anything for dark chocolate?" Nathan's eyes got wide with anticipation. I pulled my mind from the interrogation room to read his mind. None of his ideas were very original, so I put my mind back and went to my office.

Since Alice was protecting Bella, I decided that my next priority was to find Bella's stuff, especially her laptop. I could find out a lot of stuff about her from that.

I called the company who made them and asked for the names of the people who had bought a laptop that had been sent to Washington. At first the person on the other line just talked about privacy laws and such, but then I told him I was CSI. At that point, he asked if I wanted to speak to his boss, to which I replied positively. The employee had obviously explained the situation to his boss, because he was happy to oblige when I repeated my request. Bella's name wasn't one of the three, but I wasn't surprised to hear Alice's name instead.

Then I asked if there was any way to track down a stolen laptop through technology. He told me to write down the identification number of 'Alice's' laptop which he supplied and repeat it to the lady that he was forwarding me to. I happily agreed, though I didn't need to write down the ten digit number. The lady I was forwarded to was very cheerful and was able to quickly give me the location of an abandoned warehouse downtown. I thanked her and hung up.

As soon as I heard the click, I was dialing Katy's cell phone number. She sounded tense when she answered.

"Hey, Edward."

"You okay? None of us have seen you for a while."

"Who do you mean by us?" Her tone had a bite, like she was mad at me.

"Me and Nathan and Hannah. Who did you think I was talking about?" Confusion was very apparent in my voice. Katy took a deep breath, and the phone rang with static and she blew it back out.

"I'm sorry Edward. I'm just really stressed right now." Then I heard her cover the phone, though I could still hear her quite clearly with my vampiric hearing, and say, "I'm not that stressed. I'm in control of myself."

"Is your mother there?" I teased her. It felt good to hear her laugh, before she had sounded like her nerves were stretched thin.

"No, just some very overprotective friends."

"Well, you're a cop. Your friends should be worried. I decided to save the 'Working-is-my-life Katy has friends?' tease for later.

"Worried? That's the understatement of the century." I loved how she used such large increments of time when she hadn't lived a full thirty years. This also showed that Katy was back to herself again, even if it was a stressed self. I decided to ask the question I had been wondering about the whole time.

"Are you alright Katy?" She took a deep breath.

"Not really," she paused, the quickly added, "but it's kind of personal, and…" I cut her off there.

"Did I ask?" I replied kindly.

"No," she paused for a moment. "Thank you Edward. Right now, it seems you're the only one who doesn't want an explanation."

"I wouldn't say that..." Katy laughed once again, but this time was carefree. Just then Hannah came around the corner. I decided that getting the laptop wasn't a two man (or woman) job, and that Katy needed to rest. I called Hannah over and let her talk to Katy while I went to find the laptop by myself.

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**I love reviews! Questions, comments, guesses, crazy stuff is welcome! (especially the crazy stuff)**


	12. Laptop Scandal

_I decided that getting the laptop wasn't a two man (or woman) job, and that Katy needed to rest. I called Hannah over and let her talk to Katy while I went to find the laptop by myself._

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Traffic was bad, and it was nearly an hour and a half after the lady had told me where the laptop was. I was quite irritated; I wasn't even sure if it was still there. Who ever stole it might have moved it by now, but it didn't hurt to check. In fact, as I slunk around the warehouse looking for a way to get in, someone came out carrying the laptop. Did my thoughts control people's actions now too? ٭

I started to follow him, moving much back and forth behind boxes and buildings, getting closer but remaining hidden. I guess I was not used to running back and forth with restrictions, because once I had too much momentum and crashed into some boxes, so much for my vampiric grace. The guy with the laptop stated running. I made sure I was on tracking mode, not hunting mode before starting off. I didn't want to have to tell Carlisle that I had killed someone next time I saw him.

The robber ran into a crowd of people, and I grudgingly slowed down. Thankfully I didn't have Katy slowing me down. I also was able to continue even when I lost sight of him by his smell; Katy tiered quickly and would have stopped me the first time I lost sight of him. Of course that would be after ten minutes of chasing the runner. The runner I was now chasing realized he couldn't outrun me, so, hoping all I wanted was the laptop, placed it on the edge of a bridge. In his haste, he knocked the laptop into the river. I could not catch it, and even if I had jumped in after it, it still would have been fried by the water. Even fancy laptops like that weren't water proof, only water resistant.

I was mad at the guy for destroying a vital link to Bella's past, so I redoubled my efforts in trying to catch this guy. He finally ran out of the populated area into an alley and I easily over took him. I was angry, but I kept thinking about Carlisle to keep myself from killing him.

"Where did you get the laptop?" Of course he lied, but his thoughts betrayed him.

"I bought it." _Wow, I didn't know that girl had FBI relations, I wouldn't have robbed he if I had. _Now that I knew he had stolen it, I decided to play some mind games.

"CSI, actually." He looked at me weird.

"What?"

"You said the girl had FBI relations, I'm CSI." He looked at me in horror._ Suddenly I was transported to Italy with amazing smells wafting through the air. The music of Italy hovered in the air, and the man who had stolen Bella's computer was munching on some real Italian spaghetti. _

He was in his happy place, he probably had a criminal record already to get there that quick. Later, he would learn his happy place couldn't save him, but for now I was just going to take him to the police. I would call for him when I was ready. AS I walked out of the alley, I noticed Katy was standing at the entrance. I instantly became worried, what had she seen?

"How long have you been standing there?" She took a while to respond.

"A while. Can I come along?" I was in trouble, but I tried to act like nothing was wrong. I say try because I was tense the whole car ride to the police station. Thankfully, Mr. Robber stayed in his happy place the whole time. I was tempted to look at Katy's mind and see how much she knew, but I knew that if Katy was suspicious she would ask. Also, I noticed two unfamiliar smells during that nightmare, one pleasant, one unpleasant. The first was of flowers, but it wasn't; something was off.

"Are you wearing perfume Katy?" she blushed.

"Yeah, I decided to try something new." This was brave of Katy, she didn't give much thought of fashion; her work was the only thing important in her life.

The other smell was a smell that set my senses on high alert. It was like how wet dog smells to humans, only ten times worse. How had that smell gotten in my car? I didn't have much time to ponder it since we had reached the jail. Me and Katy were decently common 'visitors,' so we were led straight to a cell for our buddy and paper work was filled in a flash. We were back to the car robber-less in little more than half-an-hour. I noticed the wet dog smell followed me into the station, and guessed that robber-dude was the source of the smell. I was about to ask Katy were she wanted me to drop her off when she spoke.

"Edward, I need to talk to you about something." The dreaded moment had arrived. "I'm a… I was gone because I'm a…" She just couldn't seem to say it. I decided to just take a quick look in her mind. _She was running through the night looking for all the world a spy in black_. Suddenly a lot of things clicked into place.

"Nathan was right! You do have a job with the FBI!" I hooted. Then I calmed down. "Darn, that means I owe Nathan a car."

She smiled weakly and replied, "Yeah, I didn't know how you guys would react, so I kept it a secret."

"Thank you for telling me first, now I have some time to get a Smart car."

"Nathan asked for a Smart car?" Katy was shocked.

"Yeah, I was so sure you were only CSI that I agreed to the bet." Katy ducked her head as if to put the car between it and me. I motioned to her to get in the car, and then did as well. As I entered the car I realized that it still smelled; it was going to take weeks to get the smell out.

I contained my groan and instead asked Katy, "Where to?" She sighed.

"I probably need to get back to work, even if there is nothing to do." I sighed too, and when I didn't explain, Katy looked at me expectantly. I guessed I owed her a little for telling me about working for the FBI.

"My family is in town and I haven't seen them in a while, mostly because of me. I ran away to protect someone I loved, and then I ran away when my family kept badgering me to go back, and then yesterday I ran away when I learned how much pain I had caused them. Each time I run away the mess behind me grows. I've finally decided to face the problems I've created, but I'm still dreading it." Katy reached over and touched me arm. I was surprised by the heat, and realized no one had dared to touch me in two years until now.

"Edward, I don't know a lot about your family, but I know I miss mine. If I had a family, I would hold it close." Then her eyes widened as the realized the truth in her own words. I was surprised she would mention her family; it was one of the reasons Katy worked all the time. They had all died in a horrible plane crash along with hundreds of others. By now I was in front of the building where we worked.

"Thanks Katy, for everything. I'll also keep that piece of advice in mind." Silently she patted my arm and got out. As I drove away I started searching got the thoughts of my family members.

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**٭Allusion to FanFiction Full Moon by MissyBlack31 in which Nessie can influence people's thoughts and actions.**

**Sorry I didn't add the endnote earlier. **


	13. Family

_"Thanks Katy, for everything. I'll also keep that piece of advice in mind." Silently she patted my arm and got out. As I drove away I started searching got the thoughts of my family members._

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I couldn't find any of their thoughts in the city except for Alice's, who was still helping Bella at the hospital by filling out information sheets. I decided to head 'home.' Since we had moved so many times, my family was a prime example of "home is where your family is."

No one was at the house in Forks, but it was evident that they had moved back in. Everything was in the same place it had been before we had left. The piano seemed lonely, so I began to play. At first I played a hard, cruel minor tune, but it became a lovely light tune. Slowly, ever so slowly, the beautiful melody ended, as did the song. After it had finally ended there was silence, but then I heard clapping. I turned to see Esme standing there, tear ducts pumping air rapidly. Esme had always loved my music.

"That was beautiful, what was the inspiration for this one?" I stared off into space trying to figure out how to explain it.

"This whole situation. At first I played the pain I had caused, but I couldn't think about the pain without thinking about the love." As I listened to the music that had tried to recreate my love once again in my head, I finally came up with a one word summary. "It was about family." Esme looked at me with such love in her eyes, I was almost afraid she would burst with it.

"I loved how you drew out the end of it; it kind of honored the music by showing how much you didn't want it to end."

"It does the same thing for the love it was talking about." Then I realized by their thoughts that the rest of my family was standing just out of sight. I guess my ears weren't used to listening for vampires anymore. I decided to use the opportunity to apologize without having to look at their faces. "But the love doesn't make it okay to hurt the people it corresponds to. I'm sorry." Esme came forward and hugged me, but the others stayed hidden. "I understand if you guys don't forgive me." Esme whipped around, motherly sternness in her voice.

"Get in here and tell Edward you forgive him. We agreed unanimously at family council that we would, don't make lairs of yourselves." Suddenly my tear ducts were pumping air.

"All of you forgive me?" My voice actually broke. Carlisle rushed forward to hug me.

"Of course we do. Like you said, families love each other." Everyone came around the corner and gathered in a big group hug. Then I heard a groan.

"If there gets to be much more happiness in here I'm going to turn into the love fairy." Jasper said grimacing. We laughed, knowing he was kidding; he was just happy to finally have been released from having to feel the pain I had inflicted on my family multiple times over.

Suddenly I felt a small body hug my back, Alice had seen us all together and had decided to join us. We stood there for a while until Alice couldn't take it anymore.

"Bella didn't recognize me," she pouted. It was like a bomb had gone off. Everyone separated to see my reaction. I decided to ignore them and turned around so I could see Alice.

"Really? After me, I would think you would be the most likely person to jog her memories." She glowed a little bit from the compliment, but then began to pout again.

"Exactly, but she didn't recognize me!" I contemplated this complication as I looked around at my family members faces. Carlisle and Esme both nodded their approval as they tried to guess what I was contemplating, but they didn't get close.

"I think all of you should see Bella, but first, let's bring her here." My family looked at me in shock. I was also slightly startled by my proposition, but all of my actions had Bella's best interests in mind. If right now it was in Bella's best interest to be with my family so she could regain her memories, then so be it. I tried to shrug off my families stares, knowing how to bring them out of their shock. "I think it will help Bella, but if you don't agree…" I was cut off by Alice's excitement, as anticipated.

"Of course we agree!" I looked around as everyone else nodded their agreement, except Jasper. He was looking straight at me, feeling my concern.

"I will be able to control myself; she won't be hurt by me." I didn't know what Jasper had been doing to gain such control, but I trusted him.

"He won't," Alice confirmed. Then I felt a need to make it up to Jasper for keeping Bella away from him during the summer before I left.

"Thanks Alice, but I didn't need you to see the future. I know that Jasper can control himself." Suddenly the room was filled with happiness.

_Thank you._ It was about time we realized that Jasper was a true vegetarian.

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Since everything was back to how it was before I left the first time, at least in family relations, I spent the rest of the day and night with them. When Alice left to get Bella, I decided to get back to work. As I drove I remembered how much I hated these lulls in work. They were rare, but when they came I had nothing to do. Thankfully I had had Bella and all the things connected to her reappearance to keep me semi-busy. I also realized how much I depended on my job to keep me busy. It was going to be hard to leave it, either because my age got suspicious, I had to stay away from Bella, or I was spending all my time with Bella. I contemplated whether I would want to get another job if any of those things happened as I placed my finger on the scanner to get into work. As soon as the door opened, I was attacked.

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**Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy with school, and a lot of the time when I can get my hands on a computer I have to do homework. I also have been reading the wonderful fanfiction by Glitchinthesystem titled The Puppet Master. It's a Twilight Fanfiction and is wonderful.**

**I love reviews! Lets see if I can get five so then I'll have fifty!  
**


	14. New Case

_ I contemplated whether I would want to get another job if any of those things happened as I placed my finger on the scanner to get into work. As soon as the door opened, I was attacked._

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"Edward, we got it!" Someone yelled at the top of his lungs. Throwing life preservation away, whoever had yelled wrapped me in what was called by humans a bear hug, though Emmett would argue that calling a hug a bear hug is insulting all bears. I looked down.

"Nathan get off me!" I growled. As Nathan jumped back quickly, I thought about what he could mean. If he was talking about the Smart car he would have said 'I.'

"What are you talking about?" Nathan sighed and rolled his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"The case?" He paused to let me comprehend, but I was still confused. "The one where nine people have been killed the same exact way in the past two weeks, and then this week the number had doubled?" I was in shock; how had I missed that big of a news story?! The only explanation I could come up with was that I only really spent time with Katy, Hannah, and Nathan, and only at work where they only thought and talked about work. I pretended to know what he was talking about and promised myself to get all the facts as soon as possible. Nathan's excitement was contagious. Any new case was a cause for rejoicing after no work for, was it really only, five days, but a complicated case like this was cause for a party because it meant work for weeks. Then I realized that the break could have been avoided.

"Why has the case taken so long to get to us?" Again Nathan rolled his eyes, but this time I could tell it wasn't directed at me.

"The stupid local police wouldn't admit it was over their heads till now. Finally this case has some smarts working on it." I almost defended the local police, but I couldn't let a perfect opportunity pass.

"Yeah, three bright minds will get this case cracked in no time." Nathan nodded his agreement, then processed what I'd said.

"Three?" I pretended to be shocked.

"You didn't think that you were included in the group of the bright minds did you?" Nathan gave me a side glance trying to decide if I was kidding or not. I could have held it forever, but I decided to laugh to reassure him I was kidding.

"Good one Edward." Nathan laughed hesitantly. I realized he needed more reassurance, so I became serious.

"You really are an essential part of this team Nathan." Nathan quickly became quite serious as well.

"Thank you." His voice eerily echoed as I tried to remember where I had heard it before. When I remembered, I realized that I had subconsciously realized that fun and games were over and I had to return to my responsibilities. Not only had I totally trusted Jasper's control, I had been serious with Nathan, two things I had never truly done. Then things started to get awkward with me and Nathan just standing there. I decided to break the silence.

"Well, we better get to work." I side stepped around him to get to my office. We had state-of-the-art computers so it only took a minute to have my computer turned on and on the internet. I uncharacteristically went to the Olympia Gazette website rather than the CSI files because I wanted to know what the public knew first, and I could find it there. As I read the newspaper articles, I realized how serious this was. The victims were random and coved a wide range of age and ethnicity, but the attacks were well planned. Even before I started seeing pictures, I feared the worst. When I did see the pictures, I made myself think the paleness was due to over-exposure from the camera. My case with myself was weak, but it would stand unless I heard two very particular words.

After reading all that was on the newspaper website, I went to my email. I noticed an email from Katy and opened it. It had all the information about the case, but most of it was known to the public. The bodies of the victims hadn't even been properly analyzed I noted to my amazement. Usually the police did as much as they could before handing it off to us. For waiting so long to do so, I expected much more from them.

There was nothing for me to do on the official case yet, so my thoughts turned to the unofficial case. Bella was probably at the house by now, and until she remembered, I couldn't know what else had been stolen. Then I remembered someone else who would know what had been taken, the takie.

I called my good friend Officer Henry, who, as soon as he realized what I wanted, promised me he would be right over soon. True to his promise, he was at the front of the building with robber-dude in less than ten minutes.

"It wasn't so urgent you had to use your light." I played with him.

"But I hardly ever get to use them and they're so much fun!" He play wined. We both laughed hard. As soon as the burst of gladness was over I decided to voice my concerns over the inadequacy of the police department.

"Henry, I noticed that the police didn't get a lot of information about that mass murder case, didn't even get an autopsy. What's up with that?" He looked at me strange then replied.

"I don't know. Some funny things have been going on at the station lately. I was the one who finally convinced our supervisor to turn the case over to you. I don't know why it wasn't done sooner." I pondered what he had said then thanked him for bringing laptop-stealer, and took him from Officer Henry.

"Any time! I got off fifteen minutes early from my shift, and I have five more minutes left. Thank you." I shook my head at Officer Henry, smiled in a not so nice way at Mr. Taker, and thought about how much fun it was going to be to crack his shell.

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**So, so, so, so sorry for not updating earlier. I've been busy, and I didn't even realized I'd left you at a cliffhanger. I am sad though that I didn't get fifty reviews, I KNOW a lot of people have added my story to favorites, so PLEASE REVIEW!**


	15. Tearing up Happy Places

_I shook my head at Officer Henry, smiled in a not so nice way at Mr. Taker, and thought about how much fun it was going to be to crack his shell._

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As soon as we were all settled, I let all restrictions fall from my mind. Robbie was still in his happy place. I shook my head in amazement, how many times can you eat spaghetti? Then I smiled maliciously as I realized he wouldn't be there much longer.

"Spider, spider, big, hairy spider climbing down your back!" No reaction.

"Darkness, darkness, darkness is closing in around you, you can't see anything!" No reaction. He wasn't afraid of the generic stuff then. Inspiration struck.

"Rotten food, moldy food, green fuzz covering spaghetti!" No reaction. He just kept on munching. That was gross. What could he be afraid of? Cops!

"Lights, megaphones, 'we've caught you, hands up!'" No reaction! This guy was good, and I was getting frustrated. I thought more about his happy place; bad music, no reaction, fire, no reaction, his mother, no reaction. I started pacing.

I thought about him as a robber; empty room with nothing to steal, no reaction, broken leg, no reaction, too large to fit through a hole, _no reaction,_ not fast enough, **no reaction! **I banged the table after each failure. I tried everything I had ever tried, even the girly stuff**. No reaction, NO REACTION**, _**NO REACTION!**_

I was beyond frustration. Suddenly a growl escaped my thought, surprising myself, but it did the trick. He jumped straight out of his chair into reality, but he didn't seem to notice me.

"I couldn't resist, I'm sorry!" He yelled. I tried to take advantage of his disorientation.

"Couldn't resist what?" He must have realized something was abnormal. He looked around until he saw me. He squinted then opened his eyes wide.

"You're not…" Suddenly his hand flew to his mouth like his life depended on it.

"I'm not who?" I asked sweetly, but when he didn't answer, my anger came back. "I'm not who?!" He looked like he was hyperventilating, then slipped back into his happy place. I groaned in frustration then walked out of the room. I was afraid if I didn't, I would strangle him.

I automatically started walking to Hannah's knowing she would calm me down. I realize she was working with the bodies in the more, so I waited outside. I almost went back to my office, but just then she saw me. She waved and help up her hand signifying one minute. All the people in my CSI group knew and respected my sensitivity to blood, my one weakness. Bella would probably call it my Kryptonite, trying to once again make me a good guy. Well, when I said they all respected it, that wasn't true though. Nathan had a lot of fun with it.

One April Fools he bought a lot of fake blood and dumped it all over himself and pretended to be dead. I knew immediately that it was fake, you can't replicate the smell of blood, but I played an April Fools on him by almost giving him mouth to mouth respiration. He thought I was Hannah, and to save myself embarrassment I spoke. Boy did he jump up! He nearly made our lips collide, but he still yelled "April Fools!" I shook my head smiling at the memory. I heard Hannah close the more doors before opening the door for me.

"What's up Edward? Nice to see you again." I smiled slightly, I had remembered why I had come here in the first place, but I couldn't be totally annoyed when with Hannah.

"Nice to see you too. I'm just annoyed at eh guy I caught, and I need a break. Is it okay if I spend some time with you?" Her smile got wider, if that's possible.

"Sure, anytime. I just finished with the bodies." I stepped in and sat in my usual seat. She took her own seat and moved it across from me. This was surprising; she was always busy with something, especially when we had a case.

"Now tell me why you want to wring this guy's neck." I was startled. Did someone else read minds?

"Did I say that?" She laughed.

"No, but your body language speaks volumes." I looked to where she was looking and realized my hands were wringing an invisible neck. I gripped the sides of my pants to stop myself.

"His happy place was especially difficult to crack, I'm not even sure how I did it. When I finally did break it, he just said that he was sorry he couldn't control himself. Then he noticed me and said I wasn't who he thought I was, and slipped back into his happy place!" I was nearly shouting now, and had stoop up sometime during my rant. Hannah gently placed her hand on my arm and I let her put me back in my chair. As she did so, I contemplated about what had happened to my team's self-preservation. I wasn't invincible, if they didn't get it back soon, I might accidentally kill on of them.

"Now Edward," she spoke like a mother to a spooked child, "What did the guy do to get trapped in a room with you?" I chuckled slightly and her mouth twitched, but we both sobered quickly.

"He stole Bella's laptop." Understanding filled Hannah's eyes.

"And he's the only one who know anything, right?" I nodded, not trusting my voice. She thought about her words before speaking again.  
"No one has been able to evade you before; You'll break him. Maybe you should try to forget that this is personal first, though." I bit back a retort that having it personal made it go faster because I knew she was right. I sighed. Hannah waited expectantly for my reaction, and after a while I raised my head.

"Thanks Hannah, I needed that." She nodded, relieved that I wasn't angry. Then she brightened.

"Would you like to be the first person to few my results from the autopsies?" I winced involuntarily, but Hannah plowed on like a kid who had just opened her Christmas gifts. "Just the paper work, not the bodies. These killings are interesting, even to me." I rolled my eyes and followed her to the paper work.

"Everything is interesting to you." Hannah thought for a moment.

"Then, I think this should be interesting to you, interested yet?" I laughed, Hannah had a weird way with words.  
"Just tell me already." Then, as her excitement mounted, dread filled me. She spoke the dreaded two words.

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**Yeah, longest chapter yet, and I GOT 50 REVIEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!**


	16. Newly Born

_Then, as her excitement mounted, dread filled me. She spoke the dreaded two words._

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"No blood. There was no blood at all in any of the bodies. You could walk in there and be perfectly all right. Now isn't that interesting? Oh," In her excitement Hannah didn't see my horror as she reached over and picked up a camera. She took the camera to her computer and downloaded the photos. As she put the pictures on the projector, my stomach twisted in a knot. "And these bite marks are interesting. They're right next to main blood vessels, and I have a theory that the monster that made the bite marks also sucked the blood dry." My head was spinning.

It was confirmed. Without a shadow of a doubt my worst fears had been realized. Newborns. Messy ones. Either these didn't have a leader, or, more probable based on the number of kills, there were too many to control. Neither prospect was good. Either brought the Volturi right to our doorstep. They would find out that a human was in our house, and the Volturi wouldn't like that. I couldn't bear the thought of putting Bella in pain while she didn't remember anything, but I didn't know what they would do. They could change her against my will, or even kill her.

Suddenly my brain registered what it had been thinking. Bella, dead? Bella dead! Through a fog I noticed Hannah staring at me, so I waved goodbye before nearly running out of the room. Nearly as in I wasn't going top speed, not nearly as in not human running. I didn't even stop to wave to Katy or Nathan, the first giving me a worried look.

I disregarded all speed limits; I even had to talk myself out of taking the 'short cut' through the reservation. I didn't dare look at the speedometer the whole time because I knew I would then force myself to slow down. I went around Port Angeles, Sequim, Quilcene, Brinnon and Shelton so I didn't have to slow down. I also went around the Skokomish Reservation thinking that I didn't need any one else trying to kill me and my family. I was going so fast, the one police officer I saw didn't see me and just thwacked the speed-o-meter thinking it was faulty.

When I finally got to the house, no one was there waiting for me. Where was Alice? As I reached for the door of the house, Alice opened it. She looked annoyed, but at that moment _I_ was too annoyed to care.

"How could you not tell me there were newborns in Olympia?!" I roared. Alice literally jumped in shock. Carlisle came in at that moment, so my brain wasn't able to process what I had just seen. He looked back and forth at both of us then turned to Alice.

"Alice, let me talk to Edward a moment." Alice, still shell-shocked, walked slowly from the room. As soon as Alice had exited the room, but not ear shot, Carlisle spoke to me.

"What's this about newborns?"

"You don't know either?" I nearly stormed out of the room to yell at Alice, but Carlisle stopped me.

"You may not have realized this Edward, but Alice's once perfect gift now has many large holes. But that's not the pressing issue right now." I calmed down enough to realize he was right. I went to the family room and sat on the couch. Alice had cleared the house; there was nothing to distract me.

"Down at the office we just received a strange case. It seemed like a typical serial killer case at first, but them Hannah noticed bite marks and that the bodies were bloodless. The newborns are getting out of control and are sloppy. Due to number of kills, I think that there are a lot. The number of missing people has shot up as well. Soon the Volturi are going to come, and there isn't enough time for Bella to be washed of our scent, even if we stayed totally away from her, not that we are. I don't know what to do!" My anger had returned and now I was yelling. Suddenly I heard a blood-curdling scream that I recognized. I raced for the stairs, but Alice beat me.

_You have to understand that she never fully recovered after you left. A broken heart can only heal its self so much._ I nodded, not really listening, just wanting to find the source of the scream. She looked at me funny, but let me pass and a tenth of a second later I was at my old bedroom door. I threw it open to find Bella sitting up on my leather sofa, eyes closed, screaming. As I stood there scared stiff, the screaming became coherent.

"Just make it quick. I don't want to live, the pain is too much." I finally regained control of my body.

"Bella, why don't you want to live?" As soon as the first word exited my mouth, Bella realized and stopped screaming, but then by want she was tense again and her eyes opened. She just stared at me for several moments blinking her eyes rapidly. Suddenly she look like someone had died.

"You're only a dream." Before I could say a word Bella was crying uncontrollably, rolling into the fetus position, and rocking herself. I tried to talk to her but she just kept muttering, "He's just a dream, he's just a dream."

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**Hi guys. I have a poll on my profile about what new story I should start next. Don't worry, Agent Cullen isn't in danger. I expect a lot of people to vote! (reviews are great as well! :)**


	17. Pain

_Before I could say a word Bella was crying uncontrollably, rolling into the fetus position, and rocking herself. I tried to talk to her but she just kept muttering, "He's just a dream, he's just a dream."_

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I stumbled, shell-shocked from my old bedroom. Bella was lucid, and I was stunned at what she had become. She was a fuzzy black-and-white photo of what she had been. Esme rushed into the room as soon as I left. I walked trance-like into the living room. Everyone had returned and were doing normal things. Alice looked up.

_Oh, no, now he's…_The thought was abruptly cut short. Alice got up and raced for the stairs, but I stopped her.

"Please finish that thought," I begged.

_Just like Bella._ I let her slide past, having sunk further into a trance. Esme came down stairs then towed me to the piano room. My feet moved without me telling them to.

"Edward, what happened in there?"

"Alice…?" I didn't have the energy to finish the question.

"Just told me you needed me." I nodded and worked up the courage to answer.

"Bella was screaming that she wanted her life to end, and when I asked her why she just looked at me and called me a dream. Then…you saw her." Esme looked thoughtful.

"So she seemed to recognize you?" I jerked. Was she saying what I thought she was saying? Her smile told me she was.

Suddenly I was assaulted by pictures. Pictures of Bella having nightmares. Pictures on Bella walking robot-like through school. Pictures of Bella trying to do suicidal things. Along with the pictures came sounds. Painful intakes of air. Bella's monotonous voice. Suddenly I was feeling intense sorrow. I wanted to cut out my heart to see if it was still whole. Then I felt nothing, absolutely nothing. That was worse than the sorrow. Pain, pain. Worse than when I had become a vampire. It seemed never ending, but then an angel yelled, "STOP!"

After I was back in control of myself I realized I was in the same position as Bella had been. Even after almost a hundred year I still remembered my mother's womb.

Alice helped me up, and Carlisle had one of Rosalie's and Jasper's arms in each hand. I look at Jasper first because he had betrayed me. Hadn't I just yesterday defended him?

"I'm sorry bro. Rose knew just the right emotions to play to remind me of Bella and you just read my mind. I was in nearly as much pain as you." _Nearly because I didn't feel guilty for causing those feelings to happen in the first place._ Now I was beyond angry at Rosalie. Carlisle even contemplated letting me have at her.

"You'll only get her ashes back if you do." As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Carlisle started revising the punishment.

"Rosalie, you lose your car. Emmett, you may not be in a 3 mile radius of Rosalie at all times except during class at school. If you are, you lose your jeep." Carlisle paused, deciding whether or not to give another punishment. I just stared at him, surprised he was even contemplating it.

"And…" He paused and my eyes grew wide, "no make-up Rosalie." She exploded. I thought she was going to rip Carlisle's arms off, or worse. I sat down on the width of the piano bench and rubbed my temples. Too many things were happening too fast.

I decided to deal with the problem at hand first. I thought about what Rose had done and I realized that now I understood what Bella had gone through. I knew I had to stay. Bella wasn't whole without me. Nothing else would have proven that to me.

"Carlisle?" Suddenly the room became deathly silent and every eye fell on me. "Don't take away Rosalie's make-up." All the air seemed to have been sucked out of the room. "She did what had to be done, I never would have listened otherwise."

Then I stood up and hugged Rosalie, she was shell-shocked and didn't react. The silence was only broken by Bella's sobs upstairs. That reminded me of another problem I had. As I went up the stairs, Alice had the conservation I was planning to have with Carlisle later.

"Edward is going to tell you that you can still punish Rosalie; every time she buts in it isn't going to end as nicely as it did this time. He just didn't want you to go to such extremes as taking away make-up." Alice shuddered.

When I opened the door I saw that Bella was still curled up and rocking. I broke into dry sobs as I closed the door because now I knew what Bella had gone through. I was able to gently get Bella to lie down, and she quickly fell asleep. As I looked at her sleeping figure, I thought about all the hints my family, especially Alice, had given me about Bella. Then I thought about the taste of the last feeling I had gotten before Alice had intervened. I thought about what to name it and suddenly lightning struck. Lonely. Worse than pain or numb, Lonely.

The naming of the feeling uncorked the bottle where I had been storing my feelings for the past two years. To have been able to cry would have been a welcome relief.

"I am so sorry, Bella…" Suddenly she awakened and I was unable to finish me speech.

"Who?..."She asked, trailing off. Her face was confused for only a moment though.

"OUT! Get away from me. ROSALIE!" I just sat there dumb-founded; my brain had stopped working. Alice and Rose were there in a flash. Rose rushed straight to Bella, but Alice stood in the doorway with a worried look. I caught Alice's gaze and she looked mournful at me.

"Maybe you should get out while we calm her down." I wanted to argue, but something in her eyes told me not to. As I walked out around Alice, Bella started yelling.

"And don't you come back, you've caused enough pain!"

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**Won't be able to get to a computer till Monday, so sorry if it takes a while to update, but it will be long! Poll still up; Jacob is lonely, my friend's vote is lonely, and I have a tie for first place. Please vote so I can know what you want to read!**


	18. Information Overload

_As I walked out around Alice, Bella started yelling. "And don't you come back, you've caused enough pain!"_

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While I was glad Bella had regained at least some of her memories, I was sad that she remembered the pain. The trek down the stairs seemed as long as it would take a human to hike Mount Everest. Jasper looked confused when he saw me. He was the only one in the living room.

"I thought you were going up there to fix things. What happened?"

"All Bella remembers is the pain I caused."

"I got that part," Jasper winced.

"Well, since all she remembers is pain she doesn't remember that she used to love me."

"Ouch." Jasper was trying to be sympathetic, but his out turned out to be more of an expression of his pain than mine because at that moment Bella screamed in agony. I decided to take pity on him.

"Why didn't you go off by yourself for a while, get away from the feelings? Alice is going to be busy for a while." Jasper seemed uneasy at this suggestion.

"Maybe if Emmet came along to cheer me up…" Jasper paused to search out Emmett's feelings. "Or not. He's moping because he has to stay away from Rosalie for three days." I raised my eyebrows in astonishment.

"That's a long time for them." Jasper nodded.

"Just a couple more warm, fuzzy feelings added to the pot. Thankfully Rosalie is occupied." I nodded my agreement. Rosalie was not in the best mood when separated from Emmett. Suddenly I brightened.

"I could use felling like that more often," Jasper sighed. "What are you thinking about?"

"A place where I can escape to for a couple of hours." Jasper nodded thoughtfully.

"Now that I'm not totally surrounded by negative feelings I can see the promise of getting away for a few hours. Alice won't mind. She knows how much I need it." With that he was gone. I decided that work was a great refuge from Bella's pains. I went slow on the ride back, about 85. It gave me time to think. A lot had happened at the house in…I looked at my watch. I would have gotten to the house about three and now it was…3:41! All that had happened in less than 45 minutes?! I was reeling. It was going to take hours to figure out all that had happened in that house. I decided to park a hunt. The nice thing is that the road ran near the mountains. I quickly found a bear and lavished in the thought of Emmett's jealously. Thinking of Emmett led me to think about his separations from Rosalie which of course led me to think about the cause of the separation.

I shivered with fright, but forced myself to replay all that I had seen, felt, and heard. There was a lot, but I very painstakingly looked meticulously at everything that had been given to me. As I remembered, I realized that Rosalie couldn't have seen all this in only a week. I decided to give her a call, but Alice picked up instead.

"Hi Edward. What do you need?" I was shocked at my sister's happiness toward me after how horrible I had been to her.

"I want to ask your forgiveness for yelling at you and to thank you for saving me from Rosalie." There was silence on the other side of the line. "I really mean it," I quickly added. "I had just fixed things and now I've messed it up again." Silence. By now I was dry sobbing. "I am so truly sorry Alice, I'm the most horrible brother in the world." I quickly tried to find ways to get her forgiveness. "I'll buy you a car, I'll…" I flinched, "go shopping with you…" Silence.

I was running out of ideas and I slowly came to a realization. If she wasn't willing to forgive me if I was willing to offer to go shopping with her, Alice would never forgive me. Suddenly me phone buzzed to life.

"DON"T GO EDWARD!" She sounded as desperate as I had been a moment before, but now I was depressed.

"Why shouldn't I, you'll never forgive me."

"WHAT?" The other line was silent for a moment. "Oh my goodness, I am soooo sorry Edward. I had a vision and…" She couldn't come up with anything better so she repeated herself. "I'm so sorry. You were pouring out your heart and soul and you thought I didn't forgive you. Did you really think I would be so mean?" I was shocked and relieved. My sister forgave me, everything was all right. _Only in that category, _I reminded myself.

"Well, at that point I wasn't sure what to think. All I heard was the cold shoulder."

"I truly am sorry Edward. I've hardly had any visions lately and this one was flicker, so I had to concentrate." I was interested.

"So what did you see?"

"Well," I could imagine her eye brows squint in concentration, "I think you were somehow looking down at two figures. I think they were people, but I'm not sure. Then it fizzles out like a TV station not coming in at all. That's all I got." Something was definitely wrong. What had happened to my sister's dependable sight?

"Thanks Alice." I said, wanting to mend relationships, but not having anything else to say. She was silent for a while before saying something.

"Now, what did you call to talk about?" I was confused.

"Forgiveness isn't enough to justify calling?" She laughed.

"No, you just would have called me, not Rosalie's cell phone."

"You're right, but I still want your forgiveness for being me." Alice had asked forgiveness for ignoring me, but she had never said she forgave me.

"Maybe I'd forgive you if the shopping offer was still up." I could literally hear her eyelashes batting. I hoped she was just kidding, but right then I didn't want to mess anything else up, so I took her seriously.

"What time and what mall? Or do you want to go somewhere else?" The line was quiet for a moment, but then it was filled with dry sobs.

"You would really do that just to get my forgiveness?"

"Of course!" I quickly replied.

Though tear-less sobs I heard, "You don't have to give me anything to make me forgive you. I will always forgive you."

"Always?" That was a very big promise.

"Always." She promised. "At least as far into the always that I can't see you doing anything bad enough." We both laughed, but they weren't carefree laughs. Too much was happening in our lives.

Then I head the kitchen/hunting door close. I knew it was the kitchen door because we had to slam it closed after Emmett ran into it.

"Why can't people simplify their emotions?" Jasper complained to Alice.

"Because then your life would be boring," Alice replied. I laughed, and dropped the phone. They had forgotten I was there, that made me laugh harder.

"Love you too, Alice. Glad there are no hard feelings between us." I said between fits of giggles.

"Yep," Jasper chorused in, "because if you did I would be able to feel it." We all laughed; Alice was the first to recover.

"So what _did _you talk about?" You never answered me." It took me a little longer to settle down, but I finally answered her.

"Can I talk to Rosalie?"

"Umm, sure." Alice seemed uneasy.

"I just wanted to ask her some questions. Why doesn't Rose have her cell phone?"

"So she can't talk to Emmett," Jasper replied. That made sense.

"Do you know where she is?"

"Yeah, give me a moment." I heard Alice put the phone down, and about a minute later Rosalie picked up the phone sounding confused.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rose, it's Edward." She sounded stressed.

"I just wanted to talk about some of the things you showed me. I have to figure out how to get Bella to forgive me." When Rosalie answered her voice was a lot kinder.

"She just needs you. That's all she ever wanted. When we thought you were dead we tried to get her to go to her mom, but she wouldn't. She was afraid if she left Forks she would think you had only been a dream.

It was scary. She thought if she could do dangerous things she could hear you in her head. It tortures me to think of how many times she almost died." I was sobbing again. Rosalie hardly talked about her feelings, especially her weaknesses. While I was glad she had become close to Bella, I wished it had happened for a different reason.

"Rose, how often did Bella do dangerous things on purpose?" She took her time replying.

"When we fist came back she had just jumped off a cliff into the ocean, but having us there held off any other dare-devil stunts for about half a year. Then she did something almost every month. Then after about another year that wasn't enough. She went up to every two weeks, then every two weeks. Those thoughts were both her death and her life. When Charlie died," she paused, dry sobbing, "we kept a 24-7 watch on her because she constantly wanted to kill herself. Finally she went into zombie mode, but that wasn't much better. At least then we were able to hide her from Victoria." I nodded, absorbing all this new information, but then something suddenly clicked.

"AT LEAST A YEAR AND A HALF BEFORE CHARLIE'S DEATH?!!!" I was furious.

"Yes," she answered quietly.

"WHY DIDN"T YOU GO BEFORE THAT?!"

"Because you didn't want us to."

"I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO GO WHEN YOU DID GO EITHER?!"

"We thought both of you were dead." My retort died in my throat. "When Bella jumped off the cliff we thought she was dead, and the phone call meant that you were too, so we wanted to go to Bella's funeral. The only reason we stayed when we realized she wasn't dead was that you were dead and Bella needed us. We were doing wheat was best for her."

I was startled, and all I could do was say, "I need time to think," close the phone, and lay back on the grass.

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**Sorry this took so long to update, but it's the longest chapter yet. By a long shot! Four whole pages at 12 point font Times New Roman in Word. I think all my other chapters were only two, maybe three. **

**Oh, and please vote on my poll. I desperately need a tie breaker.**

**Please Review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I only need one more to have 60, but having 65 would be amazing. {hint, hint, nudge, nudge, ;), ;)}**


	19. Balloon Therapy

_I was startled, and all I could do was say, "I need time to think," close the phone, and lay back on the grass._

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I started editing my 'family' song. It definitely needed an anger portion. Then I wondered, did all families have anger problems like mine? I edited the thought, did everyone have anger problems like me.

I had had an emotional roller coaster and every time I thought my head had stopped spinning I did a loop-de-loop. I was a mess, and I didn't know where to start fixing things. That's when I heard Esme come through the forest.

"Who's the mind reader now?" She gave me a confused look. "I was just wondering where to start fixing things. Her face changed to show recognition.

"I was just coming because our previous discussion got interrupted. Do you think we could continue?"

"Too many things have happened, what were we talking about?" I know I'm a vampire, but it was easier to just ask.

"Well," she paused uneasy, "we were talking about how Bella had gotten her memory back, but we can talk about something else if you want."

"No. It's as good a place as any to start. While I'm glad she remembers me, I wish she didn't just remember the pain, though." I didn't blame her for not wanting to dig deeper into her past though, she probably thought all she would find would be more pain.

"What exactly did Rose show you? You only have to tell me if you want to." She added the last part hastily. I took a deep breath of unnecessary air then started.

"I saw Bella screaming in her sleep for me. She was crying hysterically and clutching her heart like it was going to fall out. Her sheets were soaked with swear as she did the motions first for walking, then running. Then she would wake up wide-eyed and breathless. Her breaths sounded forced, like all she wanted to do was stop breathing.

Second, I saw a robot Bella walking into school with arms and legs as straight as possible. She never talked in class; everyone ignored her, even the teachers. She did her work, but very mechanically. She went to lunch, sat down, opened her lunch and ate. When she finished eating she just looked straight ahead and didn't talk to anyone. Everyone acted like she wasn't there. Well, everyone but Angela. Sometimes she would force Bella to speak, but all that came out was monotonous blah. She was a ghost who did what she did just to have something to do.

Then," I paused. It wasn't getting any easier to cry, "I saw some of the many ways Bella tried to hear my voice in her head. She loved the motorcycle to death, but then she got more creative. She stole Rose's car and went really fast. She strapped fireworks to herself. She made a raft so she could be in the middle of the ocean. She had a gun under her pillow. She put different chemicals in a cup and debated to drink it. She stood in the middle of the road, later upgrading to trying to jump in front of moving cars. Bella did things like annoy or unexpectantly hug or purposely hurt herself so one of you would kill her. The last she only did after Charlie died though. She wasn't desperate enough to sink to that low before that." I tried to think up words to describe the feeling I had received.

"Robot/ghost Bella..."Esme cut in for the first time.

"We called it zombie." I nodded, that was a good description, if zombies were real.

"Zombie Bella felt nothing. All want, desire, need was gone. She was numb through and through and it kind of scares me how much emotion she could shut off. She could walk through months and not even realize time had passed.

Nightmare Bella, I call it that because not only did she had have a nightmare, she is _my_ nightmare, had three different emotions at once. The first was Sorrow. Sorrow at what had happened. Sorrow that she couldn't feel anything, Sorrow that she couldn't find what she was looking for.

She also felt intense Pain. Rose thought this line from Bella, 'it feels like there is a hole in my hear that will never heal.' The pain alone could kill someone. No wonder it's the most prominent memory/

And she also felt..." My voice cracked and it took me a while to say the word. "Lonely. The worst feeling in the whole entire world. Lonely. I am forever not going to forgive myself for making her feel Lonely.

We sat there in silence far a while, digesting what I had just said. Then Esme asked, "What did you mean by 'she only did after Charlie died?'"

"It's okay Esme, I know." Suddenly three water balloons landed on me. "Wait," I heard someone, who was obviously Carlisle, whisper. "That wasn't the signal." I heard Esme laugh.

"Well the element of surprise has been compromised, so just do it!" The rest of my family came out of the forest madly throwing water balloons. Esme ran into the forest and came back loaded as well. The first couple balloons were directed solely at me, but soon my family members were attacking each other. I got a thought of the refill place and soon was no longer defenseless. The water balloons quickly ran out and we all laid on the grass to dry out. It was then that I noticed Rosalie hadn't come; she must have been watching Bella.

"I guess you never got to the office, did you Edward?" Jasper chuckled. I looked at the night sky and chuckled as well.

"I guess..." My comment was cut short by the ringing of my phone. I was standing with the phone at my mouth before anyone else had time to figure out what was going on.

"Agent Cullen here."

"Edward, what were you doing?" It was Katy. "Did I catch your hand in the cookie jar?"

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently.

"You didn't check your caller ID. You never answer _that _formally when I call you." I chuckled.

"Your right. Now why are you calling after work hours?"

"You ran out of the office like hellhounds were after you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Family emergence." Well, it was true.

"Oh. Is the family emergency over or..."

"It's not over, but I can get away for a little while if you need me." I figured she did or she wouldn't have called, but then again she could just be checking up on me.

"Well, we have a lead on the case, but it's very slim. I was going to invesrigate, and I didn't know if you wanted to come too." Katy knew I liked to keep myself busy and volunteered for anything extra.

"Which case?" I guess it didn't matter, both were equally important, but I wanted to know.

"Which..?" Her question trailed off into understanding. "The offical one."

"I'm there." When she replied she couldn't keep the surprise from her voice.

"Okay, how soon can you get downtown to the warehouse port on the tip of the peninsula?"

"In a little more than an hour, is that alright?" At was outside Port Angeles, Olympia was about 130 miles away.

"Yeah, see you then." She hung up.

"Who was that?" Alice asked.

"Katy, a co-worker. She has a lead on the newborns. I can't let her go alone." The rest of the family nodded.

"Be caredul Edward, you future just disappeared." _Again._

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**The poll is done! Check out my new story, The Ruby Choker. **

**I only got one review last time, and it was my longest chapter! I'm so sad!!!!!!!**


	20. Betrayal of the Worst Kind

_"Be careful Edward, you future just disappeared."_ Again.

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I parked my car in a parking lot and walked the last couple of blacks. A car would be too noticeable, especially my Volvo. I had taken the risk of being mugged going this far, not that I couldn't have easily taken them. I was quickly able to find Katy by her smell, and she filled me in.

"A man reported actually seeing someone at one of the crime scenes. His description matched one of the people who were filed as missing, 'Riley Marcel.' Kid has no criminal record, but I found him and tracked him entering this warehouse. Several other people have come and gone as well. I've hear a lot of female angry screams; we need to get in there and find out what is going on." I noticed it was the same one that Robie had been at. I nodded at Katy and we started off. I noticed a small window on the second story and climbed up first, then helped Katy. We squeezed through the window then I heard Katy think, _I should have brought popcorn._ I couldn't laugh, but she was right. From our vantage point high above the rafters it felt like watching a movie or play.

Victoria was center stage throwing a hissy fit. A dozen or so vampires surrounded her, but one stood out in particular. I read from Katy's thoughts that this was Riley/ he was trying to calm Victoria down, but it looked like one of the scenes from the Phantom of the Opera when the directors are trying to calm the vain soloist to keep her from leaving the Opera house. I inched along on the rafters to get a better view

"Victoria, darling, I know you're upset over loosing Bella, but we must figure out how to control some of our newest recruits. Soon Edward will notice (_if he hasn't already_) and will move Bella out of town. Then it will take a lot longer to find her. Why don't you go drain a nice child to calm you down, and then we can start fixing things." The box next to Victoria caved in, her fist in the middle of it.

"But I don't get it. She begged for death." Her thoughts enjoyed reliving Bella's screams. I nearly killed her, but that would have been suicide with all the other vampires around, and Katy was here. Not only would she see what I was, but the other vampires would probably find her and kill her. "But then Edward came. I smelled his scent in the room when I went back. I also smelled chemicals like those used at some of the murder scenes by police and such. Obviously Edward doesn't even suspect a vampire did it, let alone me." Her laugh rang through the warehouse and probably made even Katy, a seasoned warrior, wet her pants. _Think again lady. _I was glad she couldn't read my thoughts.

"I think I will take you up on that child, Riley. Children scream when they are scared. I need a couple screams." I was making my way back to Katy when out of the wall came some kind of blasts. In front of Victoria appeared six werewolves with burning branches in their mouths. In less than half a second, the branches were gone; instead they were on the boxes, growing quickly. The werewolves blocked all exits; I knew I had to kind Katy, quickly, and get out of here. I called her name, telling her to just say something. She didn't even have to say it loudly. All I heard was silence from her, and I couldn't hear her heartbeat with all the other noise below. The smoke was getting so thick it could kill a human.

"Katy!" I yelled as loud as I could.

"Edward?" I heard her say. She looked confused, but determined. "You have to go the fire is going to bring the whole building down."

"That's why we have to go, now!" She just shook her head. I stared at her in disbelief. "I'm not leaving you." For a moment she looked shocked, but then she got stubborn.

"I'll be fine, just go!"

"No! There is no way I am leaving you!"

"There's no time to argue!" She yelled at me.

"Quite right," I agreed. I walked forward and was just about to throw her over my shoulder when she said, "Wait." She backed up a couple steps, and suddenly a werewolf attacked her.

"Katy!" I pried the werewolf from its spot without a struggle from it, but I didn't kind Katy underneath. I looked back at the werewolf and saw water in its eyes.

_Edward_ I heard Katy think _it's me. _I shook my head. It couldn't me true. _Edward go, I don't want you to die._

I think I went crazy for a second for two reasons. Number one: I grabbed the werewolf and threw it out the window just before I followed it. Number two: As I fell I thought, _my little sister is a werewolf._

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**Sorry it's kind of short, but once again it's information packed!**

**I'm on a role today, both of my stories updated, oh, and check out my one-shot.**

**Where are my reviews? (goes into a corner and cries)**

**Stephanie doesn't give Riley a last name, so I made one for him.**

**My PM is up!**

**I loved when HPobsessssssed7 got bornagoof soooo confused about Katy being a werewolf, and then when xxGardenWallFlowerxx got this information she said she didn't think Katy was a werewolf. I was laughing for a long time afterward. This is the kind of input I LOVE! Any theories are welcome!**

**I'M GOING ON VACATION FOR THREE WEEKS, I DON'T KNOW IF I WILL BE ABLE TO UPDATE, BUT I WILL HAVE PLENTY WRITTEN DOWN ON PAPER. SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Oh, and for your info, this takes place about midnight.  
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	21. Survivor

**I haven't had an author's note at the beginning before, but this chapter needs one. I added a lot of author notes to the last chapter, especially after I originally posted it, so you might want to go back and check. Also note the change in the last sentence from the last chapter. Finally, this is in Katy's POV. For clarification, the pack is all in wolf form. More notes below.**

_I think I went crazy for a second for two reasons. Number one: I grabbed the werewolf and threw it out the window just before I followed it. Number two: As I fell I thought,_ my little sister is a werewolf_._

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"What were you thinking?!" In my anger I released a growl; I was ready to rip Jacob's head off. Even who he was wouldn't have stopped me. "I know you don't like Edward, but you don't have to kill him!" I heard my brothers think that Edward being dead wouldn't be bad. I'd had enough! My anger was mostly directed at Jacob of all people, but all of them had known Edward had been in there.

"Wouldn't be bad?!" My voice was so high pitched, the rest covered their dog ears. Even in their heads, the noise hurt. "How about me not being alive as bad!" I could see the shock on their doggy faces. "I owe him my life many times over, even if he, the gentleman that he is, won't admit it. He ways we're even, but not even he knows how many times he's saved me from death."

"You seem to have a lot of respects for this...Edward." Sam had wanted to say monster, but I had already drilled it into their pea sized brains that his name was Edward.

"Hey, we don't have pea sized brains." Leave it to Quil to try to lighten the mood. I decided to ignore him, and replied to Sam.

"Yes, I have a lot of respect for a man who doesn't just go to work and do his stuff, but actually looks around and sees people as his collogues. I also respect a man who uses his skills to better the world. I respect the monster," I only used the word to emphasize my point, "who is able to control himself around people all day and never slips." The whole pack hung their heads in shame, they had all, at one point or another, slipped up. I felt bad for Sam, but didn't regret saying it.

I decided that since they had shown their point of view about vampires, it was time to start mine. As I started the movie in my mind, I heard some grumbles.

"What's this called Katy?" Jared asked.

"The life of Katy Carlino." I ignored their shock, and started narrating the pictures.

"Dad had short, dirty blonde hair and was quite tall. He was strong, and he knew computers and numbers well. He also loved to read, and I got many of my characteristics from him.

"Mom was Native American, and I got my looks from her. She was the best mom in the world.

"Joshua and Jacob," Jake's ears perked up, "were easily be mistaken as twins. They were almost the same weight, almost the same height, and looked a lot alike. Joshua was the older one by two years, but since Jacob followed Joshua around everywhere and absorbed information like a sponge, he could have been in Joshua's grade. Thankfully, Joshua was a bright boy and could have been in college. Joshua was born four years after me, and was seventeen. Jacob was fifteen."

While the pack tried to figure out the connection between Edward saving my life and my family, I sat down on my hind legs to see if anyone would notice.

"Wait, 'she was the best mother?'" Leave it to Jared. I tried to drown my sorrows in play.

"Ding, ding, ding give the wolf a doggy biscuit." Everyone laughed, then waited for me to explain; it took a few moments for me to pull together.  
"On June 21, 2006, Flight 2933 crashed nose first into the Pacific Ocean. The equipment failure happened so fast that most people didn't even know something was wrong before the impact killed them. The front half of the plane was instantly submerged; the front smashed open, letting water be vacuumed into the rest of the plane. Only one person escaped that watery grave," I paused not wanting to have to say it. Finally I choked out the word, "me." Through the shock I heard them all think two rhyming words, 'wow' and 'how.'

"Since it's four o'clock in the morning, I think it makes it 499 days ago," I heard their astonishment and rolled my wolf eyes. "I have quite the computer knowledge and made a counter on my computer. It's like the counters that count down to a movie or a book, except it counts up." Now that that was out of the way I decided to continue.

"So, 499 days ago my family and I were flying home from Disneyland when it happened." They had figured it out, but I couldn't stop to think about it because I knew that if I did I wouldn't be able to start again. Jacob came forward to comfort me, but a shake of my head stopped him. "Jake," I tried to explain but I had to stop. Though they were totally different looking, every time I heard the name it cut me deeply. Jacob stayed where he was.

"I had needed something to keep my mind off the storm during the flight and had decided to read a book, but first I had this weird idea to read the safety information about what to do if the plane crashed while over water. The Ysandir had just revealed Alanna as a girl in front of Prince Jonathan in the Black City, when I heard the announcement to prepare for a crash landing and immediately stopped reading. I was able to quickly turn my seat into a life preserver and when I saw my family wasn't doing anything I started shouting instructions to them. Then the plane crashed and the worst thing was there was no screaming." All these details seemed to come from nowhere since I had never relived about these memories before, preferring to distance myself. I hadn't even finished the book in fear of these memories.

"As the water rushed in I shouted for my family to follow me. I raced to the back of the plane and opened an emergency door. I jumped out then swam as fast as I could because I knew the plane would create a suction that would drown me. When I turned back to look around, nothing was there except the ocean and me. The waves were so turbulent that in hope, I shouted my family members' names until my voice was gone. I held onto the life preserver all through the storm, which lasted all night. I didn't give up hope until the sun rose on a flat ocean with no one in sight for miles." The air had almost become too thick to breathe; I wasn't sure when I had started crying. "Sometimes I think if I hadn't been reading my book, or if I had glanced back to make sure they were still there they would still..." Embry cut me off, bless his heart.

"You did what you could. If you had paused for one second you wouldn't have made it, and you said you stopped reading when you heard the announcement. If you had done anything different, you wouldn't be here." I nodded, along with the rest of the pack. I knew that, but it was nice to hear it.

"Thanks you guys, but the story isn't over." It was almost cute the way the angled their wolf heads in confusion. "At that point I was helpless and tired. I must have fallen asleep, because next thing I knew a teenage boy was trying to wake me. He looked worried, and shoved a piece of banana into my mouth. 'Why are you starving yourself?' I looked at him in amazement and pointed at the ocean. I tried to tell him how crazy he was, but my voice was still gone. Frowning he reached into a satchel that was hanging off his shoulder and handed me a water bottle. I'm not sure why I took it, but it was the most delicious thing ever and I drained it. The teenager raised an eyebrow and shoved another piece of banana into my mouth. I wanted to ask why he was feeding me and helping me, but couldn't. He stayed with me through my ordeal. He would wake me looking worried, feed me, give me water, and talk to me. He told me stories he knew from books, since it wasn't good for me to sleep too long, according to him. He even found a piece of wreckage big enough for me to lay on to get out of the freezing water. Each day we would watch the sky more and more. The banana supply dwindled, and the water ran out; he seemed troubled with indecision. It was the end of the fourth days when I was finally rescued. Even before I heard the helicopter he told me 'I was never here. You found the bananas and water floating on the ocean, okay?' I was half-delirious, but I nodded my head, confused, and then he swam away. I couldn't stop him, and I was still staring after him when the helicopter came.

"At the hospital everyone marveled at my survival. I realized I had held on to a shred of hope, because it died when they told me there were no other survivors. I was finally able to cry, and I was unable to stop. Even when I had no tears left, I was crying. I had lost my family, and then I had developed a strong connection to my rescuer who had mysteriously disappeared and was probably dead." I decided to skip the hard part, I just couldn't say it. "I had cried myself to sleep one time, and he was there, my rescuer. I was so happy, I hugged him. I had regained my voice, and asked, 'who are you?' He debated a while, then answered, 'Edward Cullen.'"

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**Thanks to xxGardenWallFlowerxx and her idea to have other POV's. Also many, many, many thanks to her 15 straight reviews! The next couple will be in Katy's POV. Think of it as Jacob's book in Breaking dawn. Though I might alternate between her's and Edward's later. I have the next couple chapters written, so I'll try to type fast. Reviews welcomed!**

**P.S. Who guessed the teenager was Edward?**


	22. Brother and Sister

**Katy POV**

_I was so happy, I hugged him. I had regained my voice, and asked, 'who are you?' He debated a while, then answered, 'Edward Cullen.'"_

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At the collective gasp, I rolled my eyes once again. Wow, boys were stupid, but one plus one plus one always equals two. I talked about how Edward had saved my life, and then I told them the story of someone saving my life. Why couldn't they have put this together? Anyway, I was glad I could focus on their stupidity, not the reason I had had to be saved.

"That wasn't the last time he saved my life. I had been working at the CSI for a year and my partner had been shot in the leg and paralyzed during my absence, so I volunteered Edward. It took one look at his resume and one week trail to get him on the team. Mrs. Aldric knew if I recommended him that I had good reasons. Since then he's saved my life many times on the job. I've lost count of the number." Jacob, though, wasn't convinced of Edward's good nature.

"Of course he saved you, he's invincible. There was no threat to his life." Oh, I'm having hot dogs tonight. I couldn't have planned this better.

"Exactly!" Everyone jumped at my enthusiastic response. "He could have let a bullet hit me then slurped me down. Free dinner served. Or in the ocean, there were no witnesses, no one to hear my screams. The ocean is also a great place to hide bodies." Quil snicker at Jacob's shocked face at my come-back, but he stopped when it was my turn to look shocked.

"Do you love him?" Why did Sam have to ask it _that_ exact way. I fumbled with the right words.

"Yeah..but not the way you're talking about." His thoughts urged me to reply. Why was this harder than talking about my family? I decided to stand up, since I had been sitting. "You know how you think of each other as brothers? Well, Edward is like my brother." I decided they wouldn't like the comparison, so I ran off as fast as I could before Sam or Jacob could stop me.

I found Edward jumping off a hundred mile tall cliff in the middle of the Black Hills. I was used to his scent, so it was easy to follow. When he hit the sharp rocks below, he would break apart, reassemble, and then do it again. I don't think he realized I was there until I spoke.

"You can't kill yourself, why try?" He stopped at the top of the cliff where I was and replied.

"I'm not suicidal, I'm thinking." I raised an eyebrow.

"Sure." Maybe 'Yeah, right' would have been more appropriate.

"No, really." He jumped off again, and when he came back he explained. "My head is like a puzzle. I break it up and try to put it back together one way. If it doesn't work, I break it up again."

"Literally." I interjected. He nodded, and jumped again. "You know, if the pack came, all they'd have to do would is to make a fire and you'd be toast." He laughed, then stopped and looked at my quizzingly.

"You don't consider yourself part of the pack?" I mirrored the look on his face back at him. I hadn't realized I had made myself distant. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm the only girl, and the newest member. We also don't see eye to eye on a couple of topics." Edward pointed at himself, and I nodded. It was good to hear him laugh, he did it so rarely. But once again confusion was evident in his features. Sadness shadowed it as realization struck.

"I see they've educated you about vampires. Come to say goodbye?" My subconscious had been trying to figure out if all the pack had said was true, and Edward had heard it's deductions. He turned to jump, but didn't. Did he think that because I had transformed into a werewolf I suddenly hated him?! "Something like that."

_Mind reader_.

"How do you know that?"

_From the pack. _His brow furrowed in concentration. I decided to be brave. I took one step at a time closer to him. I didn't let my thoughts give me away, and when I got to him I grabbed his arm, spun him around, and hugged him. I was putting my life in his hands, and I knew he would protect me like he had all those other times. No wonder I had called him brother in front of the pack. When I looked up at him, he looked ready to cry.

"I thought of you as my sister after you told me you were a werewolf. I don't know if the pack will appreciate our connection though." My thoughts turned again to the equation that I was battling, my instincts. The pack plus a vampire equaled fire. Suddenly, I remembered something, and I knew that I would forever be life indebted to him.

"Silly Katy, a werewolf can't be life indebted to a vampire, and forever is a long time." My eyes watered with tears.

"I was telling the pack about how you have saved my life, and I now have a come-back to rule all come-backs to use on Jacob." He chuckled.

"And what is that?" He had already heard Jacob's question in my head.

"You did have a threat to your life. That time in the office building with the fire. I was being bull-headed and wanted to save as much as I could. You were in more danger than I was, but you stayed with me. I would have died if you hadn't carried me out after the smoke got into my lungs and I blacked out. That was another time you could have sucked me dry and not have had cops running after you."

"Another time?"

"Other than the ocean, or if I had been hit at work. Times you saved me instead of, you know." I had been given a lot of time to think tonight. Edward must have taken the time as well.

"You don't smell bad anymore."

"Well, you seem to have not taken a shower for a couple days either." He noticed I was offended.

"I mean, werewolves usually smell bad to vampires. When you first came it smelled bad, but after a couple minutes it just smelled…different than human." I thought a moment.

"Well, you smell different too, since the changed I mean, but not bad. Those other vampires smelled awful, though. Are you sure it's just not hygiene, because you are always clean." As the sun rose over the mountains, the vivid orange reminded me of the sunset when I was hanging on for dear life in the middle of the ocean. Somehow I felt prompted to say something.

"Remembering pain obscures memories of love, but remembering love obscures memories of pain." That line from Edward had helped me though my darkest days. Suddenly he was running through the mountains, with a determined look that I knew well.

As I watched, a smell drifted toward me. The smell of human blood outside the body. Suddenly I had transformed and was running too; I had to stop something from happening.

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**Sorry about the long wait, I knew I would feel bad if I updated this before Ruby Choker, but I didn't want to update it, so finally I did, and now here is this chapter. It's long, so I hope you are happy!**

**I wanted to make a rule that I wouldn't update till I got three reviews, since I have the next two chapters written, but I was afraid I would have to wait forever. Please review!**


	23. Love Conquers all

**Katy's POV**

As I watched, a smell drifted toward me. The smell of human blood outside the body. Suddenly I had transformed and was running too; I had to stop something from happening.

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I knew exactly where to go, though how I knew I didn't know. When I got close, I shifted back to human form, grabbed the dress that had been tied to my leg, and put it on; all without slowing down or missing a step. Suddenly I felt the urge to stop, and when I looked around I saw a lady with a knife poised to be stabbed into her own chest.

"Wait!" The woman's closed eyes opened in shock at the sound of my cry. "Please don't do this." My own fights with life made me fight against any kind of death. There was also something nagging me in the back of my mind.

"Life is too hard." Harsh pain could be heard in her words. I knew I had to stop her or two people would die, but could I say the words?

"I once wanted to kill myself too." She had shock written all over her face. Best of all, she was hesitating, her hand was shaking though, so I kept talking. "But I remembered the good things like love, not the pain." At the word remember she nearly cried, but the rest of the words seemed to impact her.

"But I don't remember anything other than pain." She took advantage of my shock and raised the knife higher.

"Bella, don't!" How did I know her name? And who were the other voices?

Suddenly, Edward appeared with six people trailing him. It felt like two wires had been connected in my brain, Bella was the girl from the apartment. Suddenly a knife flew through the air in the direction of Edward. I grabbed it by the hilt with two fingers before it got anywhere near him. It wasn't saving his life, but it was the best I could do to pay him back for saving my life, at least for one of them. Then I realized with astonishment that the knife was from Bella. Before I could process that information though, the wind blew through the trees, and the scent was too strong to only be Edward, and…oh!

"Just figured that out?"

"I've been a little busy!" I shot back at Edward. Things were happening too fast for me to realize he wasn't playing with me, he was genuinely confused. "And Victoria.." I didn't get to finish explaining the differences in smell because suddenly Bella was on the ground, withering in pain. I knelt next to her, and noticed her eyes were closed, watching a memory.

"Bella," I called to her, gently, "Bella, I want you to make a box in your mind. Can you do that?" Bella was just barely able to nod. "Now suck all the bad memories into it, all the memories of pain and all the memories that would remind you of those memories." I gave her some time to be able to do this.

"Now what?" Bella didn't look to be in as much pain anymore.

"Close the box and cover it with anything hard you can think of: steel, rock, diamond…" Suddenly an idea came to me, once I decided Edward wasn't the best example to use, I had another realization. "something like Rosalie's skin." The other realization was that name. I didn't know how I knew it, but that was how most things were since I had changed. "Now put the box somewhere deep in your mind where you can't get to it." About a minute later Bella opened her eyes and looked very happy.

"I feel free." She sounded astonished; I laughed.

"See, I told you suicide wasn't the only way out." She looked happy a moment more, but then she remembered something.

"I don't remember anything from before I woke up in the hospital anymore." She looked so sad and lost.

"Sometimes it is better to remember nothing than something bad." How true. I looked at Edward though, and I knew how to help her. _Do you love her?_ I thought to Edward. He nodded his head, startled. _Then tell her._ He looked nervous, but he knelt next to Bella and, with a little mental goading from me, spoke.

"Bella, I love you with all my being." Remembrance danced in Bella's eyes, and welcome sight, and they quickly hugged, the passionately kissed. I decided to give them some privacy, and found myself face to face with six vampires who I didn't know. They were animal eating vampires, again, don't ask me how I know, but I didn't know how much control they had, and Edward was occupied. I was just about to slip away, when a girl with pixie-like hair spoke up.

"I'm Alice." She nudged a boy with a confused face.

"I am named Jasper." He looked like he wanted to bow and kiss my hand. That would have been awkward. Next was a buff boy.

"I'm Emmet." After him was a beautiful model-looking girl, who was looking at me quizingly.

"Apparently you already know me." Somehow I knew immediately what she was talking about.

"I just knew your name referred to one of the people in your family, I didn't know who. Pleased to meet you Rosalie." Rosalie was still looking at me strange when the next person in line spoke up.

"I'm Esme." Her whole manner was so motherly I felt like I was going to cry.

"And I am Carlisle, the head of this family." I blessed his obliviousness to my feelings and immediately remembered something funny.

"Oh, so you're the one Edward's always looking over his shoulder for!" I was about to explain my joke when I smelled werewolf. I was lucky none of the others had smelled it yet, I had to go, quick. "My brothers are really mischievous and they seemed to have followed me. I'm going to tell them to go home real quickly." They all looked at me weird.

"I haven't heard anything." I wanted to curse vampires and they super sensitive hearing.

"Trust me, I need to go now before they burn down the forest." I darted off before they could reply again. The fire thing was originally just a figure of speech, but hopefully it would also keep them from following me. As soon as I knew they weren't following me, I began to ponder on the reason of my need to leave and was soon muttering under my breath.

"If you don't have a good reason for bothering me, I will rip you limb from limb and roast you brains, if you have any. I don't care with one you are," I hadn't taken time to analyze the smell, except to know it was only one, "but if you're the one I think you are then I will rip each hair out of your body first." Yeah, I was only a little bit mad. Actually, I was surprised I hadn't changed into werewolf form yet, but when I saw it was Jacob I barely got my dress off.

"How dare you! I can be out of your sight for five minutes! I can take care of myself! I even saved that girl's life without your help!" He snorted.

"Saved her life from your precious vampires." I lept at him and bit him behind his neck.

"She was committing suicide and I stopped her. The vampires were trying to stop her in the same way I was." He went limp in my mouth and I let go.

"What was her name?" Wow, this boy couldn't stay away from dangerous subjects, could he?

"Bella has someone else, as do you! If you go anywhere near her he will fight you to the death, and I'll allow him. And if you kill him, Bella will probably kill herself. So stay away!" I knew of Jacob's love for Bella, and I wasn't going to let it mess her up. Thankfully, my lineage made it so Jacob had to obey. I changed back and put on my dress before stomping off back to Bella and Edward, and I thought, _Anger sure sucks the energy out of you, _before darkness crept in.

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**I updated Chapter 7:Gossip becauseI finally found a laptop for Bella. And I posted a picture of it on my profile.**

**I got two reviews, YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can I please get three for this one? Oh, and you can guess how the Cullens should react to Katy and why Katy wanted to be particularly harmful to Jacob, and who Jacob is hooked up with!**

**P.S. I changed the end of the last chapter, twice. The endings seem to be getting to me.**

**P.S.2 I updated Ruby Choker!**


	24. Back to the Begining w a Small Change

**Back to EPOV**

I knew of Jacob's love for Bella, and I wasn't going to let it mess her up. Thankfully, my lineage made it so Jacob had to obey. I changed back and put on my dress before stomping off back to Bella and Edward, and I thought, _Anger sure sucks the energy out of you, _before darkness crept in.

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_I sure feel sorry for those boys. She's got an amazing temper._ This thought was the first thing to break my concentration from Bella. It stuck out because Jasper always named people n his thoughts. Suddenly I jerked at his next thought. _She just collapsed! _He had to mean Katy! I was about to run to her, when i remembered the woman in my arms.

"Bella, I need to leave real quick. I'll be back in less than two minutes, okay?" She seemed confused as to why I was asking permission, and I blessed the day I met Katy. She nodded yes and I shot off. As I left, Jasper thought, _she was just too tired. She didn't feel any pain._ This though came just in time because I was about to rip a werewolf who was standing next to Katy limb from limb or worse. Darn, I didn't get to kick any werewolf butt.

"You can't carry her by yourself, and I can't carry her over the border. She'll stay with me." My growled dared the werewolf to argue. The werewolf didn't even look at me. He only stared at Katy longingly as he decided whether to argue before moving off. When I went to Katy, she was face up. The mud on her face though led me to believe she had been turned over. I used my sleeve to clean her nose first, then her mouth and eyes. While I placed my hands so that she would be in the most comfortable position, I realized she had smelled strongly when I had first gotten there, but the wind had wiped it away. If Katy was a vampire, I'd say she had a gift. _She's a werewolf!_

I stood up with her in my arms and turned to see someone standing a ways off. Only he would have been able to smell Katy. Jasper stepped back in shock when he saw Katy in my arms. I also was getting twenty three different questions about my relationship with Katy. I knew I could let the rest of the family know though, for the reasons I had told the werewolf.

_"_Please don't tell the family Jasper. She smells normal and I can't take her over the border." Jasper analyzed my feelings.

"What about Bella?" If my hands weren't full, I would have slapped my forehead. I almost laughed when Jasper's emotion sensors almost made him slap himself.

"Surely you can tell the difference in my feelings. She's..." I didn't know how he would react to a werewolf entering the family. One of the few times I wanted Alice's vision since usually I could read her mind. "just a very close friend. My two minutes are almost up, I need to get to Bella. Do you promise not to tell?" He deliberated for half a second.

"I promise." A weight lifted off my shoulders, Jasper's word was better than a carefully worded contract. Katy's secret was safe, for now. I carried her back to my family, and they looked startled as several dozen questions circled around in their heads.

"She hadn't had good sleep for a couple of days. Her body finally gave out." I looked at Jasper. How had he known that? He looked at me and shrugged. "Her body was crying for sleep The way it called only happens when the body is sleep deprived fo many days." The topic got dropped when I realized Carlisle was deeply confused for a different reason.

"What did she mean when she said that you were always looking over your shoulder for me?" I took a moment to run over the conversation my subconscious had been listening to. I was able to answer Carlisle's question with a laugh.

"Katy had a problem where she would call me Mr. Cullen, so I would look over my shoulder and say 'Where's my father?'" They all laughed at Katy's joke. They actually thought it was pretty good.

"So her name is Katy?" Esme asked. That's when I realized Katy hadn't introduced herself.

"Yeah, she goes to work with me." I decided not to add the part about me meeting her in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

"Did you meet there?" _Esme I love you, Esme I do_, I had to remind myself.

"No, it's kind of complicated." Esme just sat on a tree and got comfortable. "I really don't want to talk about it." Her posture told me she had all the time in the world, not that her thoughts helped at all in the making of that conclusion.

"Let's get Katy to a more comfortable spot." I suggested then turned to look at the newly restored love-of-my-life and added, "And Bella too." Esme jumped up, embarrised by her mistake.

"Of course. We'll bring her back to the house." Jasper stiffened, but didn't say a word; he did look at Katy curiously though.

"Trust me, I'm trying to figure it out too." I don't think I would have needed my mind reading ability to see what he was thinking, but it was nice to know I wasn't the only one confused by Katy's smell. Thankfully no one else heard my comment, so no questions were asked.

Once Katy was settled on the couch, everyone took their normal seats. I felt as if I had traveled back in time to two years ago. It was as if I has never left, as if I had never caused grief. If only that could be. But then I realized that a life had been saved because I had left. A life I now cherished as much as my family's, almost as much as Bella's. Speaking of Bella, I had to find a way to tell the story without hurting her. Tell it like fantasy? I shuddered. Alice's vision showed epic failure. Suddenly though, Alice jumped up.

"Let's go get you dressed Bella!" I hadn't even realized Bella had been in her PJs, she always looked beautiful to me. Poor Bella was dragged of to play Barbie; Alice would be able to hear me from upstairs, so I finally was able to start my story.

"After Rosalie's call I wandered around a bit, trying to get on with my life, like I was sure Bella was doing." I couldn't help grimacing. "I ended up getting closer and closer to Forks. I liked following the railroad in California because they gave me a sense of direction. Usually I followed the ones that headed inland so that I wouldn't get too close to Washington. On June 21, 2006 though, I was near the coast line having circled around Fortuna. That's when I head the thoughts of the worried pilots on flight 2933. I raced into Eureka and bought bottled water and bananas, the first food I saw. Then I swam into the sea to see if I could help anyone. Almost everyone was already dead, except one." My voice almost cracked with grief.

"She's Katy Carlino?!" I looked up surprised, then remembered that Carlisle would have been fascinated by such a rare feat of human endurance. As I nodded, Carlisle rubbed his chin. "I wondered how she had lived for so long." Carlisle quickly filled everyone else in on how Katy had survived for a little more than four full days at sea. Then Carlisle stated that Katy wouldn't have survived without my help. I knew it was true, but it was still embarrassing. Then the question that had been nagging me for years came back to me.

"Carlisle, do you know why it took so long for Katy to get rescued?" His face darkened.

"The airports didn't communicate very well. When the storm started, the destination airport thought flight 2933 had stopped at another airport and didn't even double check that it had or make sure it finallydid get to it's destination. It was desperate family members wondering where their loved ones were that finally sent out searches. The only comfort I have now is that even if searches had been sent out immediately, we would have saved the same number." Things were silent for a while, to give everyone time to absorb the new information. I kind of felt jipped, since they hadn't given me time to absorb all the information they threw at me, but two wrongs don't make a right. I groaned when Carlisle remembered something though. "So it's true?"

"Yes." I reluctantly replied. I glanced at Katy, almost afraid she would wake up and scream at me for telling her secret. Not that it was a real secret or anything, but it was common consent that we never talked about it. We had had a small two person party as a one year aniversary, but that was more for different reasons. Everyone looked at me confused, even Carlisle, but Katy's past was her's to tell. Even if I was a big part of it. I continued my story, but took a few breathes to clear my head before starting.

"When the helicopters came to save Katy I told her not to tell anyone about me and swam under the waves. But once I heard about...certain events..." I gestured to Carlisle but that didn't help the family, "I visted her in the hospital. She was so happy to see me; she thought she had hallucinated me. I knew I needed to help her as a therapist since she was quite shaken by what had happened. The rest of her family was in the plane as well." I was bearly able to squeak the words out as my throat closed up. Everyone knew why she needed therapy. After a moment, I could speak again. "These tramatic events molded us together. I needed someone who wouldn't judge me for my past, ans she needed someone to live for." I nearly winced at how close to the truth that sounded, but that would have surely given it away. "When she got well enough for work, she learned that her old partner had been shot in the leg and paralyzed. She suggested me as her new partner and with my credientials and her favor I got the job. We've been working together for more than a year, and we're both very dedicated to our work since ther is nother for us outside it. She's sort of become a sister to me." There, I said it. They knew the extent of my feeling, and they could accept her or reject her, and they could do it before they knew she was a werewolf.

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**Sorry for the long wait, but hopefully that will encourage you to write a review to encourage me to write! :)**


	25. Happy

_There, I said it. They knew the extent of my feeling, and they could accept her or reject her, and they could do it before they knew she was a werewolf._

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"Presenting the new and improved, Bella!" I turned around to see Bella glamored up coking down the stair case. I didn't even see what she wore, I just saw her smiling face. She was happy! That's when I decided I could be happy too. Jasper was right, I was too gloomy. And now that everything was set right, I had happiness embracing me as I scooped her and spun her around. Jasper's groan only made me happier when Bella kissed me. Who knew I, who couldn't feel others feelings could feel like a, to use jasper's words, love fairy. I never wanted it to end. When I turned around most of my family looked like they were about to cry, especially Esme; Jasper, though, looked like he was going to puke.

"Really?" I asked a huge smile lite up his face.

"Kidding. I really am glad for you Edward." Emmett started to roar with laughter.

"He got you Edward, he got you!" And hit Jasper's back three times, each strong enough to have broken a human's back, I'm sure. But everything was back to normal, I didn't care.

"When did you get so gullible Edward?" Wait, Bella was hounding me now? Emmett had really rubbed off on her.

"I wasn't gullible, I was just worried. Actually, I was having fun making Jasper a love fairy. He didn't like when I was gloomy, so I was giving him plenty of happy feeling to make up for it."

"I'm fine thank you, repayment done!" Jasper quickly jutted in. Everyone laughed.

"Wait," Bella held up her hand, "did you say Jasper the love fairy."

"No," I paused, "I said Jasper a love fairy."

Bella punched me softly, not to be gentle to me but to not hurt herself, and wined, "Edward! When did Jasper get called a love fairy?" Panic filled me since I didn't want to lie anymore, but I couldn't hurt her and tell her the truth!

"You sleep too much Bella." Saved by Alice. Darn, now I owe her something. Before I even finished the thought, a picture of a expensive purse filled my mind. I groaned, but nodded at Alice as she clapped her hands in joy. The purse would go great with her outfit. Her outfit, Alice was dress up? I glanced around and noticed that since my story had finished, everyone else had changed into party clothes. What was going on?

_You look happy._ The thought was kind, and sort of sorrowful. _I finally found out how to repay you, I finally found what you were missing._ What I was missing, repayment? _Wow, I didn't know that you could look confused, I thought you knew everything Agent Cullen_. I wanted to hit my own forehead, but laughed when Jasper did it instead. How was I going to preform a one way conversation?

_Your facial expressions work pretty well._ Wait, she was a mind reader too?! _No._ Then how are you doing that? _Like I said, you're facial expressions are speaking volumes._

"Edward are you okay? You look like you have some disorder where your expressions change very rapidly. If I wasn't a vampire, I would be having a very bad headache because of you."

"Aren't you glad I'm back Jasper?"

"I love you, even if you do have a disorder." I finally put Bella down, but was surprised to see her disappointment. I would have thought she would be uncomfortable in my arms.

"Is that a challenge?"

"No. Well, it can be, it will be interesting to see what you have learned, but lets have the fight later." 6:30? I nodded to accept the challenge.

"What has Edward learned?" I was surprised to find I even missed the confused look on Bella's face, though it had appeared too many times for my liking. But couldn't Jasper have kept his mouth shut? I can read minds you know.

"I'm starting to think Alice is right about you sleeping too much Bella." Rosalie to my rescue? I was screwed since I had no idea what she would want as repayment.

_Have things calmed down enough for me to give you a proper goodbye?_ Boy, that girl really knew how to make me jump.

"Goodbye?" I mouthed. Hopefully no one else was listening.

_Yes, goodbye. Your finally happy, you found your girl. You're rich and a vampire, so you won't want to waste your time at work. I'm fine now. I have a job I love with people I love, and have even found a family that I can tease. I'll tell Mrs. Aldric that you quit, for personal reasons. Thank you for all you've done for me._ I finally dared to look at the couch, and realized Katy was gone. I was eternally grateful for her understanding spirit, but I wished I had been able to thank her for all she had done for me. Unfortunately, Jasper had been watching me and as soon as he saw that Katy was gone, he got into a attack position.

"Jasper, calm down. She's gone. Gone home. Not coming back." Jasper started at be disbelieving, but got into a more relaxed position. I noticed that he was still tense and ready to defend himself at any moment. He would learn soon. Just then Esme came out of the kitchen with a cake with twenty candles on it.

"Esme," Bella groaned. "That cake is way to big for me to eat, and you didn't have to make one in the first place." The things I had locked up in my own mind came free. It was the 23rd of September. It was Bella's birthday. The most horrible days of the year.

18th birthday, Jasper attacked Bella, she cut her arm open, nearly got killed. Few days later my family and I left.

19th birthday, this was harder as I let my brain make the connection in dates. Day I saved Katy from a burning building, day Bella went from doing something dangerous once a month to twice a month, when things truly began to go downhill.

20th birthday, Bella tried to kill herself with a knife.

I spun Bella around to look at me and vowed to her, "You will not have another birthday as a human." I was sure it wouldn't even take that long. I knew Bella needed me, and I knew how much I needed her. The whole time after James had come, all she had wanted was to become a vampire, and I would finally grant that wish.

Everything had come full circle, everything was right again. I had my Bella, we were safe, and eternity was ours.

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**So how did you like it? I've had a great time writing this, hope you liked reading it.**

**Reviews are welcome!  
**


	26. Messy in Five Minutes

At my proclamation, everyone started congratulating Bella. It was like I had proposed to her or something. They gathered around her, I was afraid she wouldn't be able to breathe. She stood there shocked that her longing had been given to her; the thing she had begged for before was now being freely given to her, and she couldn't understand why. Her petrified body soon relaxed as first Esme, then Carlisle, and then everyone else hugged and congratulated her. They understood my decision thankfully, and agreed. Even Rosalie. Actually, she was the strongest supporter. Bella seemed especially puzzled when Rosalie sighed "thank goodness." I was puzzled too, but not as much as Bella.

In all the commotion, we started slipping outside to have more room. I only got a glance at the brightly light trees though before…

**Katy POV**

It was amazing to see the difference one person could make in another person's life. Without Edward Bella was a shell filled with only painful memories, and without Bella Edward was…unhappy to the extreme. He was a dark figure who cared, but had a hard time showing it. A man who never laughed but was always lurking in the shadows to save me. I knew I hadn't even scraped the surface of his former sadness, but I'd always knew there was something not quite right for him deep inside. Now they both were happy. Who knew a laugh could sound so good? First of all, it was a vampire laugh, what did I suspect? Second, I had never heard it before. Third, Edward was truly happy; as happy as he had been unhappy; a very good thing to be. I actually didn't think it was possible for someone to be that happy.

This happiness is what made the decision for me. I had known there would probably be some tension when I found out he was a vampire and I was a werewolf and wasn't prepared to leave then. Now I had a family to take care of me, not that I needed taking care of now. I was fit both mentally and physically, and when I saw how he was acting now that he got his soul back (not that he didn't have one before, but…it kind of seemed that he didn't, and now he was so full of life and such), I knew I couldn't stay. I wished I could have paid him back more, but I'm such he knows he can ask me for any favor he needs.

My contemplation was cut short though when a smell burned through my nose. Bells clamored loudly inside my head and lights flashed wildly revealing a vampire perched in one of many trees extravagantly decorated with white lights. I knew she definitely wasn't a vegetarian , and instantly began to suspect something was up. With the burning lights I wasn't able to see her face soon enough. I was barely able to recognize the figure as the female leader at the warehouse when Edward's family started to flowed out with Edward at the lead and Bella close behind.

_NOOOOOOOOOO!!_

When she jumped I didn't have time to think, my dress just exploded as I leapt to meet her midair. Her body stiffened in shock at my appearance and stayed that way as she looked at me. She realized I was not like my brothers, I was female like her. She opened her mouth to spout poisonous lies and I moved one of the claws on my paws to just next to her voice box. It was very tempting, but since she kept quiet I decided Edward might want to talk to her. I was happy to see that sections of her arms and legs were burnt, though. Too bad the fire had been put out before any more damage could have been done. Her hair looked nice burned though; it gave her fire red hair a more real look. Her face looked like a drama mask for surprise when she realized Edward wasn't attacking me even though I had my back to them. I wondered it any had tried, but knew Edward would keep me safe. To torture her a little bit more, I cocked my head and shrugged my shoulders like, who cares if there are seven vampires behind me and I'm a werewolf? I was grateful but confused when the rest of the pack showed up. Jacob just shrugged.

_Jared was worried when we heard your call._

_What call._

_Does NOOO sound familiar? _I hadn't realized I had broadcasted that to all the pack; the fact that they had come to back me up was comforting though, overwhelming even.

_How did you catch the leech?_ Grrrr, I am going to start hitting that boy hard every time he calls a vampire a leech!

_That's going to be hard since he's over here and you're holding that vampire down over there._ Quil and his helpful comments.

_Instead of undermining me, why don't you circle around me and the vampire and let's get out of here?_

_Why should we circle up? _Thankfully Jared wasn't trying to be difficult, he was just confused.

"Nick." The name was very soft, but it had a funny tone to it. I instantly remembered the early days with Nick and his SWAT team. They had always thought they knew best, but quickly learned Edward was smarter than they were. The crazy thing was, they learned respect for me even quicker, even if they were difficult at first. Edward's unspoken message was that I would have the boys trained in no time, and once they were, life would be so much easier.

_Because it will keep her from escaping. I've dealt with convicts before, I know most of the things they try to do._

_Oh. _Five voices chorused. They quickly circled her and as soon as they were in place I released the vampire. I gave her a nice, teethy smile then nudged her with my nose to let her know she was to start moving. The pack moved at the same time she did so she had no way to escape. After she had disappeared into the forest and I was about to follow her I heard a small voice say, "Thank you." I realized Edward had blocked the doorway so that the rest of his family hadn't seen me or Victoria. I also calculated that if I hadn't been there, Victoria would have landed on Bella as she had come out the door. I figured Edward knew this too, and therefore the thank you. Two down, thirdy or fourty to go.


	27. Imprints Smell

By unspoken consent we kept walking and didn't start a fire right away. We all knew if we started a fire in this dense forest that we would all be barbecued as well as miles around. Most of the boys had to fight the urge to get it done with, though. They never had had to take a vampire hostage, they just killed it. I contemplated the idea of tearing her up and carrying her that way, but it would be hard to carry and we would probably have to keep her head in one piece, and then she could call to her friends who were probably nearby. This plan got rethought when I smelled them coming closer.

_We've got to tear her now!_

_Why now? We are in the middle of the forest. We either should have done it sooner or wait until we get to the beach. _Jared the logical one.

_Now because her friends are coming and it's much harder for her to run away if she is torn apart._

_What?! I don't…_Oh dear, now I smell it. If boys would give a girl a little credit and try a little harder to think before they open their mouth (or mind-for thoughts) maybe we would have found the cure to cancer or some other seemingly impossible thing. The smell was obvious now, where before it had been a whisper on the wind. How had they not smelled it earlier? Or were they so focused on the one they didn't think there could be others?

The vampire was taken completely by surprise when I pounced. She had time to issue one blood curling scream before her voice box was separated from her mouth. We left the torso and each grabbed a limb, if you count the head as a limb. The boys threw theirs in opposite directions, but mine stayed in my mouth. I had suddenly become frozen with fear. Each hair on my body was screaming to run away. The boys were focused on the approaching threat, and my mind was anything but focused. When the first vampire came within view, I didn't think, I ran. I ran and I ran. Why was I afraid? I was faster, I had teeth and claws. What did the vampires have? Skin that wasn't flame resistant. Was I afraid that if I could kill this vampire that Edward could be as easily killed?

No. This was a deeper, more ancient fear. Something I had never felt before. I had stayed in burning buildings, run through gunfire, some of it my own, survived near drowning, chased serial killers; what was this compared to that? A million mile difference.

I stopped as instinctively as I started. I walked a few more steps on my own free will and realized I had reached a cliff. I shifted, but had no dress to put on. The pack had stored dry timber along this cliff and I knew where to find it, though they hadn't told me. As I placed the leg on the fire I wondered if a vampire could hop fast. That would be a sight to see.

The breeze blew a comforting smell to my nose. I couldn't remember what the smell was of, but it was familiar. Warmth, love, and safety were wrapped up in one smell, so I shifted and followed. Nose in the air, I walked until I crashed into something.

_Jacob! I'm following the weirdest smell, wait..._ It could only be bad if Jacob was laughing his head off.

_It's called the smell of an imprint. I would have thought you'd have learned that already._

_What?_

_Oh yeah, you haven't been with any of the other guys when they were with their imprints._ I studied his brown coat, still trying to keep stable in all this emotional turmoil.

_A lot has happened; I don't even know who I am let alone the rest of the pack._ Not projecting, I added, _who I am supposed to be responsible of._

_What?_

_I just got the curve ball of my life, I'm sorry if I'm a little confused._ His head was at an angle, but he didn't say anything. Then he drifted to my side.

_Normally I would say we should change out of wolf form, but you lost your dress and no one else is in wolf form._

_Why would that matter?_

_Why would that...? Never mind._ Could being a werewolf be any more confusing? I decided to drop it since I didn't want to start a fight. I lay down, exhausted despite my cat/dog nap. Jacob lays down beside me, a paw over my back.

The long forgotten familiarity attacked my senses and memories. The bottomless pain started to bubble up as well as the water in my eyes. The sudden removal of the arms ripped like a band aid over the hole in my heart. The difference was that my wound underneath wasn't healed. All the thoughts that had been kept at bay came crashing in. I would never write a trio piano piece again, I would never... Stop right there girl. This is what got you in trouble in the first place. It's not your lasts, you've got your whole life ahead of you, it's their lasts, commemorating them. My brothers would never play the piano again, or the computer. They would never fight or come up with questions neither of my parents could answer. They would never search on Wikipedia again to find the answer. My dad would never fix a computer or help a company get its feet back on the ground. He would never stay up late playing games like Dungeon Siege or Rise of Nations. He would never read another book. My mother would never hug or kiss again. She would never say "I love you" or shop for her family. The scrapbook would never be finished, not that that would have happened anyway. None of them would go camping or hiking. They wouldn't have pizza night Fridays or see another movie. They would never hear me sing again, not that I had been doing any singing since they had gone. It was at that moment I realized I needed to start living, not for me, but for them. To write so that someone else could play, or sing so that someone else could hear. To do all they couldn't do.

My eyes were drawn to the sky, where more stars twinkled much brighter than in Olympia. Five stars seemed to brighten, then stay brighter than they had been before. I recalled my grandmother's words. "The stars are the faces of our ancestors and those who have died. They will always watch us, but we have to let them go first." _I'm sorry I took so long. Thank you._  
_  
You talking to me?_ I nearly jumped in surprise. Before I could get snippy at Jacob though, I saw the worry in his eyes.

_No, just some people I should have talked to a long time ago._


	28. Thanks to You Now I Get What I Want

**Quotes are really thoughts, since their in wolf form, and italicized mean the words are being sung.**

You talking to me?_ I nearly jumped in surprise. Before I could get snippy at Jacob though, I saw the worry in his eyes._

No, just some people I should have talked to a long time ago.

_******************_

I felt a small loss, but gained a strong sense of purpose. I decided to start implementing my epiphany right away and began to think of a romantic song to hum or sing. My first idea sent me sprawling. I laid there like a turtle who had been turned over, legs kicking, and making what I sure was a strange sound. But I couldn't stop laughing. Jacob tried to star sternly at me, but a chuckled escaped.

"What are you laughing at?" I finally got it out between fits of laughter

"This…this…song…popped into my head…_Thanks to you now I get, I get what I want"_ I paused for a short moment to laugh, "_since you've been gone."_ He started bark-laughing.

"Very appropriate." We didn't calm down for a while, but I realised what a relief singing was. It was like I was finally taking a breath. Song had always filled me with life. I chuckled.

"What now?" He sounded exasperated, but I saw a twinkle in his eye. I started singing the song that had begun to be sung.

"_You're hot, then you're cold. You're yes then you're no. You're in and you're out. You're up and you're down. _Stop me quick or I'll keep singing." I dared him. He thought a moment, and I pondered upon how cute it was when his chin jutted out when he was thinking hard.

"_So what? I'm still a rock-star. I've got my rock moves, and I don't need you." _I put a claw in my ear to block out his horrible falsetto voice. I quickly thought up another song.

"_Don't cry for me, Argentina. The truth is I never left you. All through my wind days, my mad existence, I kept my promise. Don't keep your distance."_

"_If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe, I'd been married a long time ago. Where did he come from, where did he go? Where did he come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?"_ Wow, he was fast. Well, I could be too.

"_If you like it you shouldn't put a ring on it. If you like it you shouldn't put a ring on it. Whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa." _I got motions and everything. Beat that Jacob.

"_I got tired of waiting, wondering if you were ever coming around. My faith in you was fading." _He took it down about an octave, and he actually had a nice voice, (when he wanted to) but I had to give him a look.

"Nice voice, but that's a real love song. It's even called Love Story." He looked at me like I was the odd one.

"I know. All that anti-love stuff was depressing."

"So you picked Romeo and Juliet." I tried to shove the voice of warning from his head. Maybe he just was ignorant of the significance.

"The most famous love story. Why not?" Wait, was he really ignorant?

"Don't you know what happens?"

"No." He shook his head confused. I was able to quite my fears. I'd never really been superstitious, but something had been bugging me. This all could have been avoided if boys paid attention in English.

"Juliet is going to be forced to marry someone when she is already married to Romeo, so she fakes her death so then she can go to him. Romeo finds out about her 'death' and kills himself. Juliet finds Romeo dead and kills herself. And they lived happily ever after." I think I was still slightly obsessed about death. Oh, and I _was_ sort of mad at him.

"Oh. I guess that is depressing too." He looked so sad with those puppy eyes, I had to give him some credit.

"In that song though, they supposedly live happily ever after. The song actually really messes up the real story."

"Umm…" That adorable thinking pose again! It was nice to listen to the sounds of the forest. I never knew it was so noisy. I'd never really come out here before my change, so I didn't know if humans heard nearly as much as I did. "What was that Argentina song? I don't think I've heard it." I shifted uncomfortably.

"It's actually not a love song. It used to think it was, though. It still is one of my favorite songs."

"Ha, so I wasn't the first to break the mold." I pouted.

"It wasn't fair. I gave two before you even started and I couldn't think of a song fast enough. I forgot it wasn't romantic." Jacob chuckled at my distress. I was about to jump on him, but he seemed to guess what I was thinking and quickly changed the subject. "What is it really about then?"

"A female politician trying to win the voice of the Argentine people." Jacob gave another chuckle.

"That's not very romantic at all." I decided to prove him wrong.

"Romance is how she climbed the social ladder. She fell in love with the most powerful politician of his time, maybe all of Argentine history. I could go into the whole love story, but it's too long." I could tell be retort had silenced him for now. I could return to the sounds of the forest.

The most predominant one was the ocean not three yards away and about a hundred feet down. The waves were a constant thing. A washing away of old fears and a bringer of so much happiness. With a start I remembered my old view of the ocean. Dark, horrible. Death personified. A watery grave for all who dared enter. I compared the two views and wondered if the ocean was a sort of fate. Something to change a normal life into a better life, though it might have to take payment.

All this thinking had made me even more tired. I hadn't taken a very long nap at Edward's, and I was still sleepy. Jacob probably was too. I figured he had fallen asleep listening to the birds twitter, the squirrels scamper, and branches swaying in the ocean breeze. That's why I was surprised when Jacob laid his head on my shoulder and thought, "What is love?" Begrudgingly, I had just gotten warm, I rolled over and looked straight into his warm eyes.

"Love is when you care about the welfare of each other. Many people are afraid if they said they loved their friends people would think weird things, but if they really are you friend you love them." I took a deep breath, and lowered my eyes. "Love most importantly is when you forgive someone no matter what they do, but I think the sign of true love is when you miss someone when they are gone." I didn't dare look up until a paw raised my head.  
"It sounds so simple when you say it like that." I grinned sheepishly (which is very had to do as a wolf, by the way).

"I've had years to think about it, and have realized it's not the vulnerability everyone says it is. Not real love." He got a quirky look on his face.

"Well then, O Wise Oracle, how do you tell friendship love from love of another sort?" My breath jerked and my heart raced. I knew that somehow I loved him with all my being, but could it be true that he loved me back? I could take my eyes off his chocolate ones.

"I haven't figured that out yet, lucky enough for you."

"Lucky? I would call the evaporation of you mystically powerful wisdom unlucky." Wow, that boys sure knew how to complement a girl, but I had one up on him.

"The only way I could have gained that insight is if I had found my man. I would be honored to have a trail with you, since I'm as free as a bird." He kind of sat there for a moment with his jaw slack.

"You mean free as a wolf, right?" I grinned.

"Even better." I dared to close his sleepy eyelids, startling myself. "Now get to sleep. I'm tired."

Jacob chuckled, but kept his eyes closed.

_******************_

**The perfect recipe for a romantic scene:**

**Couple destined to be together-Check!**

**Romantic music-Check!**

**Love talk-Check!**

**Don't you think I did a great job in sticking to the classics?**

**P.S. I realized my story won't work if the whole entire Cullen Clan see Katy as a werewolf, especially Bella. So only Edward sees her, okay?**

********

**Song links! (in oder of apperance) ****PS Playlist is awsome, type title and singer and presto! music. These links are all youtube though (so type then paste link)**

**Since You've Been Gone (Kelly Clarkson) /watch?v=-FPvfrfwlX0**

**Hot N Cold (Katy Perry) /watch?v=X75mry1LcFg (watch the video, it's halarious)**

**I'm Still a Rockstar (Pink) /watch?v=8_r3aUy2EJ0 (AWSOME stitch video!)**

**Don't Cry for me Argentina (Madonna) /watch?v=4Spy3Nd2D6w (As seen in movie Evita, might want to skip long into)**

**Cotton-Eye Joe /watch?v=Ys8zO1vWOiI**

**All the Single Ladies (Beyoncé) /watch?v=4m1EFMoRFvY**

**Love Story (Taylor Swift) /watch?v=8xg3vE8Ie_E**


	29. The Missing Werewolves

_I dared to close his sleepy eyelids, startling myself. "Now get to sleep. I'm tired." _

_Jacob chuckled, but kept his eyes closed._

* * *

I guess I can't complain that they gave us a solid eight hours of sleep, but with all that had happened I felt I could sleep a week. The first sign of consciousness was little voices in my head.

"Wait! Just a minute. Let us explain!" In my dreams this morphed into the team, including me, telling Edward not to leave.

"I demand answers from the source. Now back off!" Wow, I didn't realize Edward's voice was so feminine. Then I heard monstrous noises crashing.

"I prefer not getting shot today by a hunter passing by, but you seem to have a different plan based off all that noise you're making." Edward was so graceful. Why did I need to remind him to be quiet?

"I like her. I guess I won't kill her after all." What?

"You better not kill Bella after all she's been through for you! You were being a good boy when I last saw you, what happened?" Male laughter rumbled through the forest.

"Wake-up Katy." Jacob?

"If you touch him I'll kill you Jacob Black." The male laughter stopped to be replaced with female giggles. I opened my eyes to see a werewolf face about a foot away. The smell was off though, different somehow. Finally, it clicked.

"Oops." Then another gear slipped into place. I rounded on Jacob.

"You didn't tell me there was another female!" I kicked Jacob and stood up. "What's with not telling me about, sorry, I don't know your name,"

"Leah." She seemed to realize I was going to shout at him and was very willing to help. "and sorry about the wanting to kill you, I thought you were hiding on purpose, I'll just kill the guys instead."

"Sure, just let me yell at them first."

"Okay." She sat back to watch the show as the rest of the boys stared at us in shock, not comprehending the female bond that had just been formed nor what they had gotten themselves into.

"What was I supposed to think if when I transformed, when I called for back-up when I found a bunch of vampires,"

"You got to kick leech butt? I'm really going to kill the guys now." I winced at her phrasing, but carried on.

"And when we captured that one there was only boy werewolves? Didn't you think I would like to know that there was another female werewolf?!" Leah gave me a wolfy grin.

"Now I'm really glad to have you in the pack. You are going to make things very interesting." Leah turned and watched as another new werewolf came running up to our group. "Took you long enough. Don't tell me they didn't tell you about Katy either."

"Who?" He seemed confused, and disappointedly he was a he, and I could tell he was younger than most of the other werewolves.

"The other female werewolf." Leah thought it so off-handedly he didn't realize what she had said right away.

"Another female?!" He came right up to me, and if I had been human he probably would have started shaking my hand rapidly. "I'm so very pleased to met you! This is all so very exciting. It is so nice my sister can now have a friend in the pack." He leaned in even closer and was much more quiet. "Do you think you can help her be less moody?"

"I can still hear you!" I laughed at the quarreling siblings and tried to keep the reference I was making to my own siblings in present tense. Soon Leah and her brother were wrestling with each other on the ground. The rest of the pack seemed to treat this as an annoyance, so I decided to prove them wrong.

"You still need to pay for not telling me." I jumped on Jacob and started wresting with him. As we passed each member of the pack they got pulled into the fight until everyone was being paid back for whatever they had done/ would do.

"What's going on here? The Rez doesn't protect itself you know." Everybody froze as Sam's black form appeared. Quickly Leah's brother detangled him sandy brown self from the mess of grays and browns and reported to Sam.

"Sorry, Leah called for me. There's another girl werewolf!" Sam looked confused.

"I knew that.." He trailed off realizing what big trouble he was in too late.

"You knew too! How dare you!" Go get him Leah! I wondered if Leah's small size would give her agility to bring down Sam's black hugeness.

"Actually, we better stop her before she gets too worked up or we will never stop her." Party-pooper Jacob.

"Leah," she paused, "you haven't introduced me to your brother. What's his name?"

"I can introduce myself." He protested, but then quieted as he realized my stratagem.

"This is my younger brother Seth." It would have been rude to not ask the next question to his face, so I hoped Leah wouldn't go back to yelling at Sam.

"You're a boy; why didn't they tell you about me?" I had to ignore an interruption during my question by Quil.

"You're observant."

"Well, first they were probably afraid I would tell Leah, and second, someone needed to protect the Rez."

"What's the Rez?" Sam had mentioned it too.

"It's short for reservation." Seth acted like this would explain everything, but when he saw my face he added, "it's where we live." It hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Wait, you're Native Americans?"

"You didn't know that?" It didn't matter which boy said it, I whirled around to speak to the group.

"I haven't exactly seen any of you in anything other than wolf form."

"How did you explain the transformation?" Why did Jared have to sound like a psychologist measuring the extent of my insanity? And why did his question have to make me feel stupid for not having thought about this before.

"I've barely had time to sleep, let along think, since the change. You just woke me from my first real sleep that wasn't incurred from passing out." All the boys exchanged worried and ashamed glances. I heard a small, surprised voice behind me.

"So you don't know how you changed?"

"No, Leah, I don't." I shook my head, hoping they would explain.

"Well we don't really know either." As the chorus of "Quil!"s echoed round, I sat down in despair. For the first time I felt like some kind of monster. A face appeared in my mind though, and seemed to take away some of my fear. Before I could get a good look though, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I was surprised to see Leah in human form standing in a light, blue summer dress. I didn't think they sold dresses like than in Forks, or that Leah was really a dress sort of girl. Her perfect copper skin accented the color of the dress beautifully though, as did her glistening black hair as it flowed down her back. Her eyelashes were like feather dusters that moved the dust particles in the forest away from her eyes. She held out a yellow dress to me.

"Emily thought you might need this. She was super excited when she heard about you."

"There's another girl werewolf?" What was the big deal about me then?

"No. She's Sam's wife, but she is human." There was a sort of bite to her tone, but after she took a deep breath, it went away. "While we don't know how female werewolves happen, especially you, we do know how male werewolves change. Follow me." I glanced back at the horde of arguing werewolves, the silver raging that was Paul who looked like he was about to kill argumentative Seth, Quil fending off an attack from both Sam and Jacob at the same time, Embrey and Jared taking bets, and was able to catch Jacob's eye. I pointed toward Leah, who was retreating, and he looked startled to see me with Leah, but gave me a little nod to show he knew I was leaving. When I came out changed, Leah seemed startled by my appearance. I looked down at my constantly tan skin and felt my short, black hair be moved by the breeze. I decided it was my hair, since she didn't say anything.

Leah led me to a gas station, and gave someone a call. This reminded me of my cell phone, and I hoped no one was trying to call me since I had lost it during the fire at the warehouse. A few minutes later, a truck drove up with a woman at the wheel and Leah gestured that we were to get it.

"Katy, this is Emily; Emily, this is Katy." We shook hands. As we did, I noticed our skin tones were similar, but mine was a shade or two lighter. She also seemed startled by my hair.

"Hello Katy, I'm very pleased to meet you. For several reasons actually, but Leah wants to wait until we get to the house." Leah climbed in the back, and since Emily patted the passenger seat, I sat by her. Leah grudgingly leaned forward so her head was between our seats. It was at this point I realized Emily's face wasn't what I'd expected. Her gorgeous long, black hair had covered the right side of her face before. I knew several people who had disfigurations like she did, so I knew they didn't like being stared at, but I couldn't figure out what had caused it. I tried to take quick calculating side glances, so she wouldn't feel awkward, but I still didn't understand how it had happened. She kept staring at me from the corner of her eye, so I didn't feel bad about it. One time though, our glances met each other.

"What you looking at?" She seemed genuinely confused.

"I'm sorry if you felt I was staring, I just couldn't figure out what had happened to your face. I've seen a lot of destruction at my work, but I haven't seen anything like you have." The car was silent.

"I hope you haven't seen anything like this. One time Sam was too close when he shifted, and one of his paws gave me this." I quickly looked down.

"I'm sorry to have brought it up, I didn't mean to." Emily strained a smile at me.

"That's okay, you were just curious. Most people think it's disgusting." Now I felt really bad for bringing it up, even if she tried to make light of it. Just then, Leah chimed in.

"Is Kim at the house, Emily? I want all the girls together."

"Including Claire?" Leah's lip twitched.

"No, she's a little young for what I want to talk about." They both laughed, and I noticed Emily's disfigurement didn't affect her happy, ringing laugh at all.

"Who's Kim and Claire. They're the imprints of Jared and Quil, in that order. Claire's only four though." What?!

"What does imprint mean?" The car jerked to a stop, and I had to through my hands out in front of me to stop myself from slamming into the dashboard. Emily stared at me. Leah was the one to speak.

"Another topic to add to our emergency girl meeting." Emily seemed to regain her composure and started driving again.

"We can explain now, that's fine. An imprint is like you soul-mate; you're destined lover." Oh, that made a lot more sense.

"But what about Claire? Quil's like 18 or something!" They both chuckled again.

"Werewolves don't age as long as they shape-shift. Quil will still be 18 when she is."

"Oh." That was weird. Me and Jacob could be young forever. Would I want that? Then I remembered something.

"What are you laughing about?" Leah seemed concerned about my near hysteria.

"You guys are so hypocritical. You complain that vampires live forever, yet if we decided to we could too." They stared at me.

"They explained leeches, but not werewolves?" My voice closed off mid-laugh. We had arrived at 'the house,' so I stomped inside angry at her choice of words. As I sat down on the couch, I heard a cell phone ring; hey, only I can use Secret Agent Man as my ringtone! With my brain set on seek-and-destroy, I began searching through the house. As I was about to destroy the offending cell phone (don't think me too crazy, I was sleep deprived) I realized it was mine. I looked at the caller id. Speak of the devil. I slipped into a bedroom.

"Edward? I hope you haven't been repeatedly calling, I haven't had my cell phone with me. Also, I'm a little busy in a house full of" wait, what if he was at his house? "dogs." Oh, that was almost as bad as leech. "I don't mean that, but, grr." As I groaned, Edward laughed.

"I understand. We'll have to come up with a better code name." He thought a moment. "Why don't you just call them your family. That's easy and not confusing." That worked on so many levels.

"Thanks, that's good. So what were you calling about?"

"A certain rescue mission. I can't believe how close she came to…" He couldn't get the word out. I scrambled to keep things from getting awkward.

"That's okay, I still owe you several dozen more, and I was happy to help. Good news is, I don't think she can hop as fast as she could run."

"Hop?" I giggled.

"Well, it's very hard to even walk with only one leg, isn't it? The fumes smelled awful though." It was silent for a while. I thought I heard a screen door close somewhere in the house.

"You mean to say that you burned one of Victoria's legs? What about the rest of her." I sobered.

"We lost the rest of her to her friends, but it should be easier to catch her." Edward sighed and I could picture him running his hand through his hair.

"I really had hoped all of this was over."

"I know Edward, but Bella…" I stopped. A strange girl with large cheekbones, small eyes, and thin, wispy black hair was standing in the doorway staring at me.

* * *

**It's really long, so forgive me for taking so long!**


	30. Girl Time

_"I know Edward, but Bella…" I stopped. A strange girl with large cheekbones, small eyes, and thin, wispy black hair was standing in the doorway staring at me._

* * *

"I'll call you back later, I'm not sure when. I need to go."

"Okay," he sounded worried, "Goodbye."

"Bye." The girl and I had a staring contest with each other for a while before I realized Emily and Leah were standing behind her.

"Well, that explains a couple things. I thought the boys had warned you about vampires." Leah put herself in a bad position when she made me defensive.

"You and the boys know nothing about vampires, I mean nothing! You can't even tell the difference of vegetarians and the real blood-suckers. If vampires went around saying werewolves were mangy dogs running around killing everything they saw, they would be as wrong about us as you are about them. You make generalizations of the whole race from the stories of only a few. There are stories out there that say werewolves are mindless beasts that kill people, it doesn't mean all are or do. In fact, I have lived for a year with a vampire and I have never felt threatened. More importantly, he has saved my life several times over." I paused to take a breath; my face was red with anger.

"You lived with a vampire?"

"He saved your life?"

"You can smell the difference?" Three voices spoke three totally different questions at the same time; all incredulous, but one had a tinge of excitement. They looked at each other wondering why the others hadn't asked their question. As I answered I pointed to each person so as to not get the answers confused with different questions.

"No," I pointed to Emily, "Yes," I pointed to the girl whose name I didn't know, "and Yes. Can you?" I pointed to Leah.

"No." I was disappointed. I had hoped smelling vampires was a girl thing.

"What do you mean no?" Emily obviously hadn't been listening to Leah and mine conversation; she was preoccupied by my answer to her question.

"I didn't live with him, I worked with him. We spent most of our time at work though, so it kind of was like living together; a family of coworkers. I kind of exaggerated the living together part because I was angry." Emily nodded and continued to ponder.

"Why would he save your life?" At this I froze. Could I make it through another telling?

"It's quite complicated. And a long story." I sat down on the bed and buried my head in my hands. I could skip the first life saving incident, which might be too hard to tell, but then it might not make sense. I sat there for several minutes opening and closing my mouth like a fish, trying to figure out what to say. Finally Emily came to sit beside me.

"I can tell that the story of saving your life has some parts that are hard to tell. Maybe you can try again later?" I nodded to Emily's kindness, but decided to plow through it anyway.

"My plane crashed in the ocean and I was about to drown when Edward saved me..." I left it at that. I couldn't even try to tell the full story. "And now Edward and I work as CSI agents, so our work is dangerous. He's saved my life plenty of times." I looked up. They all seemed to think there was something more to my pause.

"So what did you call me for, Leah?" Leah jerked out of confusion and looked sheepish.

"Sorry about introductions. Katy, this is Kim, Jared's imprintee. Kim, this is Katy, another female werewolf." Oh! That's who the strange girl was! Kim just about bounced off the walls.

"Another female werewolf? How is this possible? I figure you only changed Leah because of extreme stress with your father…but mostly because of your brother." She looked at me. "Do you have any sibling werewolves?" I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.

"No." I felt tears well up. The boys would have had a blast being werewolves. They would have thought it was so cool. Kim looked confused, but I wasn't prepared to explain.

"Well, to answer your first question Kim, we are here to help Katy understand how becoming a werewolf happens."

"You don't know?" Kim and Emily were as incredulous as the pack had been.

"Well, they only people who know she was a werewolf were the boys until about an hour ago."

"Ohh." Apparently that explained a lot.

"So did you just want us to back you up while you told the story, Leah?" Leah looked uncomfortable.

"You're a really good story teller Emily. Would you do it?" Emily got a weird look on her face; a mixture of shock, respect, and contemplation.

"Of course. Why don't we go into the living room?" We followed Emily single file, and this time I was able to appreciate the house. It had a lived in feel, something that was missing in my own apartment. Everything looked like it had a place, but it was a useful place; a place where it was often put that had then become it's place. A large ceramic bowl with Native American designs and a vase with flowers looked normal on the kitchen table. The bowl held gigantic muffins, and as soon as I saw them my stomach growled ferociously. Emily laughed.

"Wow, that was almost as loud as a real growl. I don't think I've ever heard a stomach that loud, but then again the boys are constantly filling theirs. Have a muffin or two." Two? My stomach gave a happy, softer growl. I picked up one, deciding I could come back for seconds if needed. Leah grabbed two.

"What's up with the full bowl?" Leah raised a hand full of muffin.

"I overheard the boys talking about Katy and raced out the door to find her. The boys followed me and didn't get to eat much breakfast." Emily laughed again.

"So that's what happened! Well, good luck for you Katy, or there might not have been any muffins left! I didn't make any more because I wasn't sure what happened. I'll get another batch cooking." While she was gone I devoured my muffin. I was able to go slower with my second one.

"Wow Katy, you have much better manners than the boys." Leah snorted into her muffin. Emily 'whispered' to me and Kim, "and my cousin." Leah just shook her head as the rest of us laughed. When we calmed down, we finally got to the living room.

"Why don't they ever put the furniture back?!" The furniture of the room was pushed to the walls leaving a wide open space in the middle.

"We'll fix it Emily." Leah motioned for me to help her. I was CSI, not super woman. The couch was surprisingly light. Leah noticed my surprise.

"Werewolf thing." I rolled my eyes; I should have figured that out. Emily sat it a chair while Kim, Leah, and I took a couch across from her.

"The Quileute always were extraordinary. They had the ability to leave their bodies as spirit warriors, and this created peace since none of the other tribes wanted to fight them. When the warriors' spirits left their bodies though, their bodies were left vulnerable. A jealous warrior killed Taha Aki's body while his spirit was gone, so Taha was forced to share a body with a wolf. This was the first werewolf. In this form Taha returned to his family and told them what the jealous warrior had done. His sons revenged him and learned to merge their spirits with wolves as well.

After many years of peace, a neighboring tribe called Makah had some trouble with people disappearing, and blamed the Quileute. Taha Aki sent his werewolf sons to find what the problem was, and three of them never returned. The disappearances stopped though, and the Makah were satisfied for a year until they started again. This time the Quileute search party found a cold one." Both Kim and Leah shivered. Emily looked at me. "A vampire. He killed two werewolves before the third brought him down. They burned the pieces when they tried to reassemble.

A female cold one, who was his mate, attacked the Quileute in revenge. She killed the last werewolf. Now Taha Aki had stopped changing, but in this desperate hour changed again. He was old though, and only his Third Wife's sacrifice saved the tribe."

"Third Wife?" He was a busy man. Kim and Leah shushed me; Emily smiled.

"It was common then. She killed herself so her blood would draw the cold one into a feeding frenzy and leave her vulnerable to Taha Aki. After she was dead, Taha Aki stayed by his wife's side for a day before disappearing into the forest. It was said he loved her more than his other wives; that he truly loved her. From that day forward, werewolves only changed when cold ones were near and the tribe needed protection." Kim and Leah wiped tears from their eyes, as did I. "It is a beautiful story is it not?" We all agreed.

"So what's the big deal with female werewolves?" I was still confused.

"In all of werewolf history, only males changed until now, with you and me." Leah seemed both honored and confused.

"I've heard the story several times before, but I just realized this. Didn't only Quileute change?" The room was silent as they pondered Kim's discovery, and everyone turned to look at me. "Are you Quileute, Katy?"

"But no one has ever left the reservation." Emily's voice was small and perplexed. So how could this be?


	31. Voice of a Loved One

_"Are you Quileute, Katy?" _

_"But no one has ever left the reservation." Emily's voice was small and perplexed. So how could this be?_

Why did my life have to be complicated? I pulled my knees up onto the couch and buried my head in them. As I did, the face I had seen in the forest came into focus. Startled, my limbs spread everywhere and I shrieked as the couch tipped over. What did Nookomis have to do with anything?

"What happened Katy?" Emily sounded really worried, but I took a moment to let my breathing slow down.

"I saw Nookomis."

"Your grandmother?" I blinked rapidly.

"How did you know Nookomis was what I called my grandmother?" Kim's eyes widened.

"Nookomis is Quintete." We all stared at each other, trying to figure out what this all meant.

"Katy does your grandmother look like us?" I had to think. When I saw the face, I instantly recognized it, but when I tried to remember, it faded and blurred.

"I can't remember."

"You can't remember?"

"You try conjuring up your grandmother's face." I was a bit snippy, but Leah needed to lay off.

"Ugh, it hovers just out of sight." I resisted the urge to say something like, I told you so.

"Would it be too awkward to ask you grandmother?" Talk to Nookomis? I hadn't even seen her since the crash; I'd been too afraid she would blame me. Emily saw the look on my face.

"Could you ask your grandfather?" Gramps had died when I was thirteen, and I never had really gotten over it. I shook my head as tears fell down.

"Gramps is dead, and I haven't talked to Nookomis in over a year because of other deaths." Awkwardness seemed to be the only emotion this group could have. Leah came over and sat beside me, and then took my cell phone off the table and handed it to me.

"Only one of your grandparents is really gone, and I don't know who the others are, but you have Nookomis now. Be with her before she is out of reach. You'll regret not having said and done many things." I knew this already, but the impact it meant for the living finally hit me. I had to be with those who were alive before they were gone to. I madly found the number in my phone, and waited breathlessly for it to stop ringing.

"Hello?" My eyes watered at the sound of her voice. When the rest of my family died, I guess I thought she had too. The voice seemed to have come beyond the grave, but the hard part was she had been on this side the whole time.

"Nookomis?"

"Katy, is that really you?" The tears really were running down now; she had remembered my voice, known the difference between my mom's and mine.

"You sound like I'm not supposed to be alive." I chocked on my tears, realizing I wasn't, and that she really had thought I was.

"My Kat, how are you alive?" I could hear the unasked question, did anyone else survive? It took a moment for me to respond.

"It's a little complicated, and unfortunately the complication meant no one else survived." I heard the flower of hope I had sprouted in her heart freeze, break into millions of little pieces, and blow away. Suddenly a memory of a story my Nookomis had told my brothers came to life. It was nearly the same one Emily had told me; no wonder it had sounded vaguely familiar, though I hadn't had time to think about it then. Maybe, maybe Nookomis had some answers. "Nookomis, may I come and visit you? I would explain things much better there, and I'd like to see you." And you can explain things too, hopefully.

"My own granddaughter has to ask to come over, what is the world coming to? Of course you can come." I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can I bring some friends?" I figured they might want some answers as well, but they didn't have to come.

"Sure." She seemed puzzled. I took a moment to calculate time.

"We'll be thee about 3 tomorrow, but I'll call when we are getting close."

"Tomorrow? Where are you?" She sounded worried.

"In Washington." There was a moment of silence on the other side of the line.

"Which town?" Nookomis sounded suspicious, but of what? I glanced at Leah to mouth my question, but she was speaking before I was.

"Near Forks." I repeated.

"Ahh." She seemed like she knew something. "May I make a request about your friends?" I looked at them puzzled.

"Ok."

"They have to be under fifty." I couldn't help it, I laughed. I laughed off all the stress building from work-though I hadn't been today, oops-and Bella and this whole werewolf thing. When I finally calmed down, I realized that voices on both sides of the line were also laughing. We all had needed it.

"No problem Nookomis, I don't even think my friends are more than thirty."

"Thanks for calling me Kat, I'll see you when you get here. I love you." You don't know what those three simple words really mean until you haven't heard them for a long time.

"I love you too." I told her through tears. As I hung up, I realized Leah had put it on speaker phone. "You guys don't have to come, I just thought you might like to, since she might have some answers."

"She seemed to know something; I'll come." I'd expected Leah to.

"I better be here or Sam will worry."

"I haven't seen Jared in ages," Leah coughed under her breather, 'three days' and Kim glared at her. "So I'd like to stay too." I looked at Leah.

"Let's get this adventure started."

**Nookomis the explainer shall reveal much in the next chapter (I would have said all, but it might take two chapters).**


	32. Going Home

_I looked at Leah. "Let's get this adventure started."_

Emily was nice enough to loan us her/Sam's truck even though I didn't know when I would be returning it. When we stopped at Leah's house so she could grab some things and a couple of changes of clothes, I met her mom. She was a kind lady, and she made me think of my mom. The house had a nice homey feel, something I have dearly missed. There were decorations similar to the ones at my home that I now recognized as Native American. As we drove to Olympia to pick up my stuff, I decided I would use my car for the rest of the ride since mine had a better radio and mileage.

Leah followed me inside my apartment, and I offered her the love seat since it was the only seat. I only needed one seat for reading, eating, web surfing, and watching TV. The TV itself was smaller than average, but I had made the rather awkward looking stand it sat on myself. There wasn't much else in the living room, but I had found the smallest and cheapest apartment in the area since I spent so little time here. I took my MP# off the speaker on the counter of my tiny kitchen so I could listen to my latest audio book on the ride over and headed for my bedroom.

This was the only room I'd painted. It was sea foam green to complement my light blue comforter. My laptop sat on my bed, and I placed it in my travel bad that had sat by my bookcase. My bookcase was nearly filled with books, but you could still see my wild paint job underneath. It came from when I was still at home and had had it moved with me when I first came to Olympia. It reminded me to be happy and provided me with an escape. My column like lamp stand held a lamp with a shade almost the same color as my comforter and a small CD player that played ocean sounds. I grabbed the box at the bottom of my closet that was full of regular non-work clothes and threw some in a bag I grabbed from the shelf above. As we left, Leah commented on how small my apartment was, and I replied on how it was plenty big for one.

While Leah transferred her stuff, I sent an email to Hannah to let her know I wouldn't be at work for at least a couple days. I learned Leah has great musical taste, and we jammed out for a couple of hours. I'd never had a sister, but I wondered if this was what it was like.

"Do you have any siblings other than Seth?"

"No, but Seth is enough for two." I laughed.

"He and Jacob would have had a blast together. That boy was crazy enough without his older brother egging him on. They were both good kids though."

"You have brothers?!" She sounded shocked. I bit back a 'had;' they still were.

"Yes, but they are dead." I stared straight ahead. I was driving and tears would blur my vision. They hovered on the edge, but still Leah hadn't said anything.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up. My father died two years ago, and it's still hard for me." Neither of us asked why or how since we didn't want to answer those questions ourselves.

"Did your brothers die about a year ago? Is that why you haven't talked with Nookomis?" I nodded mutely. Leah's voice got even softer. "Did she favor your brothers?" This took me off guard.

"No, she loved us all equally. I spent more time with her than they did since they were so busy all the time with sports and such. Even after I moved to Olympia I would still visit her."

"So why were you afraid to contact her? Wait, I'm sorry. I've asked too much already." I waved it off and prepared to answer.

"At the same time her grandsons died, her only child died too. I was the only one to survive." Leah stared at me, suddenly realizing she had gone far, far deeper than she had intended. Just then Love Story by Taylor Swift came on. I laughed sadly and then sang along.

_We were both young when I first saw you  
I close my eyes  
And the flashback starts  
I'm standing there  
On a balcony of summer air _

See the lights,  
See the party the ball gowns  
I see you make your way through the crowd  
You say hello  
Little did I know

That you were Romeo you were throwing pebbles  
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet  
And I was crying on the staircase  
Begging you please don't go, and I said

Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone  
I'll be waiting all there's left to do is run  
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess  
It's a love story baby just say yes…

Strangely, Jacob's voice took over Romeo's part at the end.

_Marry me Juliet you'll never have to be alone  
I love you and that's all I really know  
I talk to your dad go pick out a white dress  
It's a love story baby just say yes _

When I finished, I was smiling.

"Did you say you had a brother named Jacob?" My smile saddened a little, and Leah seemed to regret asking.

"Yeah. Joshua is the name of other one. He's older." Leah gave me a side-long glance and I grimaced. "No, the sick irony is not lost on me. Without Jacob the werewolf, though, I don't think I ever would have reconciled with myself. Did you know he was the one who found me the night I transformed?" I remembered talking about imprintation. "Do you have an imprint?" Leah looked surprised.

"NO. I was surprised when you and Jacob imprinted on each other. I had hoped.." Ah, she didn't want to be the only one without someone, but had I really imprinted?

"From what I've gathered about imprinting, you're supposed to fall completely in love at first sight, right?" Leah nodded. "Well, I don't know if it's because I haven't had time to think about it, but I don't really feel that way. Anyway, things have just been moving too fast for me." We sat, listening to the radio. After a while I asked if Leah would use earphones so I could have some silence to think. She agreed.

After an hour I asked if I could turn on an audio book and Leah was fine with that. It was Eragon, and I hadn't started it yet, so Leah would be able to understand. We went through the drive in at McDonalds for dinner about 6:30 and stopped at a motel about 9. I wasn't in a rush to get there since I had said 2 and we only had less than four more hours of driving. At 9:30 we set out again and I called Nookomis to tell her we would be there closer to 1. She sounded excited to see us.

Leah seemed to notice when my eyes watered each time I saw the word Boise. I took route 78 so we could miss the city. Leah had been great the entire time, but she looked thoroughly confused we I turned off right before Fairfield.

"She lives in the mountains. She likes it there." Leah seemed comforted by this explanation. 15 minutes of driving up the mountain got us to the small house that was hidden and cradled by the mountain. The sight of so many memories made me slam on the brake pedal. I quickly shifted to park. Tears of happiness ran down my face as my Nookomis was revealed in the doorway of the house.


	33. In the Eyes of Catori

_The sight of so many memories made me slam on the brake pedal. I quickly shifted to park. Tears of happiness ran down my face as my Nookomis was revealed in the doorway of the house._

* * *

I jumped out of the car and ran at neck-breaking speed, but came to an almost complete stop right in front of Nookomis before giving her a huge hug. As those familiar arms wrapped around me, I found home. I had been at her house almost as often as my own before the accident, especially when I was younger. Sometimes I would spend weeks at a time with her during the summer. Then, I came for Grandpa as much as I came for her. We had picnics all the time with him and he would teach me all about American History. This later became my best class, thanks to him. Nookomis usually didn't come with us since she preferred silence in nature, but sometimes she would come. We usually didn't have history lessons then. Instead we watched clouds go by and pick out shapes or listen to Nookomis tell stories about the stars. I never really noticed the difference of their skin color, especially since my own parents had different kin colors. I actually was more startled when my father's parents had the same skin color. I had misconception that most marriages were mixed; how wrong I was. Nookomis' voice brought me back from my memories.

"I've missed you more than you can imagine. We've got so much to talk about, but there is someone you need to see first." I started to tell her I could almost imagine how much she missed me when I heard another voice.

"Nookomis, who's at the door?" I froze. Could that worried voice really be…? A tall muscular boy/man that was slightly lighter toned came into view, and then abruptly stopped. We stared at each other like there was a world between us instead of a yard or two.

"Josh?" The corners of his mouth curled into a smile.

"Go to Smoky Mountain. Find Nookomis." My stare changed from awe to confusion/is he crazy?

"What?"

"Sorry, I couldn't help feeling like Obi Wan Kenobi when Luke was on Hoth." He was much more American than he admitted. I removed the space between us and wrapped my arms around him to confirm he was real.

"But you're real." Both of us had more water in our eyes than usual. This seemed much more like a dream than reality.

"I thought you had already followed the trail of stars." Joshua was also more Native American than he admitted. I hated to raise my hopes, but I glanced behind him. His eyes saddened. "We hadn't heard from any of the others. I'm thinking even having you and me is pushing fate a little." I nodded a little, being happy for what I had.

"We should sit down; we have plenty to talk about." Nookomis nodded.

"Talk, we must." Finally, my brother and I were able to explode is happy laughter. Nookomis just shook her head at us. "I'll get the cookies." Yes, even Native American grandmothers bake cookies. Funnily enough, my white grandma doesn't. Suddenly, I remembered Leah.

"Joshua, this is my fried Leah. Leah, this is my younger brother Joshua." When Josh looked at Leah, I noticed his face change; he also didn't comment on how I commented on our age like he normally did. I sat there trying to figure out what was wrong. Nookomis finally came back with a plate of giant chocolate chip cookies.

"Are you coming or not?" As we filed past her out the door, I heard her tell Leah, "You, my girl, have a new surprise every time I look at you."

* * *

In the back of the house was a curved semi-circle room with widows instead of walls for the curve. We sat on the floor Indian style, or as Kindergarteners call it, criss-cross apple sauce. Leah seemed a little uncomfortable; I wondered why. Nookomis passed the plate to Joshua first. He took three, but the third one was placed in my hand after a glance from Nookomis. As I handed the plate to Leah, I slid a second one under my leg. When Leah set the plate down next to her, I noticed she did the same. A giggle escaped my lips, and she gave me a look. I lifted my leg just enough to reveal the cookie, and then both of us were laughing hysterically. As we calmed down I saw Nookomis smile almost as brightly as when Grandpa was still around. I was glad she liked Leah. Then Nookomis sat down in front of us and waited for one of us to speak. I would have gone first, but my story was kind of complicated.

"My story is kinda long, so you can go first Josh." He started to look extremely worried.

"It's okay; I think she already knows at least part of it." The cryptic words seemed to calm Joshua.

"Well, when the plane crashed," Leah reeled back in shock, and Nookomis looked at us both with a bit of astonishment, then a bit of reproval at me; Josh noticed nothing. "I heard you call for us to get out, and I ran after you bit something happened to me. I…transformed and burst through the roof of the airplane and saw as fast as I could. I didn't realize until I got to land that I was..."

"A werewolf." I had noticed he had gotten taller, and I could see a six pack that hadn't been there before under his shirt, so I wasn't hard to reach the conclusion. If a six pack was a requirement for werewolves though, no wonder there hadn't been any females.

"How did you know?"

"Leah and I are kinda werewolves too."

"Kinda?" Leah gave me a look that was probably famous.

"Well, we're not supposed to happen, so I don't know if there's another name for us."

"You're as much werewolves as the boys; no more, no less." Nookomis wrapped her arms around me. "When your Pachama **(mother)**…I thought that I had destroyed my heritage by marrying outside the tribe. But now that you…I realize now she just didn't have the need." Leah and I stared at her like she was some sort of oracle with all the knowledge in the world, but at the same time like all that knowledge had driven a screw loose. "Joshua, will you make these ladies some sandwiches. By the way they were stealing those cookies I'd say they missed lunch." I blushed. Lunch had left my mind on the trip here in my eagerness to see Nookomis.

"The usual, Sis?" I nodded, "Healthy or Unhealthy?"

"Can I have half and half?" I felt a little guilty after those cookies, but I was in an indulgence mood.

"Sure. What do you want Leah? Meat or peanut butter?"

"Do you have ham? If so, I usually have cheese and lettuce with it, if you have them."

"Coming right up. Anything for you Nookomis?"

"No, I'm fine." As soon as he left, Nookomis lifted her and placed them on Leah and my foreheads.

_I saw a fire and arms coming from the sides of my vision placing a log on it. I heard sounds, screams, and my sight jerked quickly to look at the entrance of a tent. I could tell this was the inside. A beautiful woman raced inside and reached toward me. I tried to back away, but instead two arms reached for each other, and my sight was pulled after the woman. My vision bumped a little and I began to move. I left the tent, and as I looked back I saw some horrific stuff._

_Another vampire was invading a Quileute village. I had to stop it! She was killing other werewolves! How was this possible? Werewolves were designed to kill vampires. The scenes disappeared behind the trees of the forest as we moved in the opposite direction, but I was helpless. I wasn't in control. My sight, which felt like a camera, stopped moving, then turned to reveal the face of the woman once more. _

_"Catori, you must climb that tree as high as you ever have and stay there. Under no circumstances are you to climb down until your father or your brothers come and tell you you are safe. Understand?" The 'camera' bobbed, then turned giving me a great view of the bark of a tree. The climb was swift, and I was very high up when my sight stopped moving. "I would also prefer you not see what is to happen." My sight darkened, but I listened intently to the sound of the woman running away. Then I could see again, but I wish I hadn't._

_I watched as she ran without stopping into the direct path of the invading vampire. I noticed I didn't know what kind of vampire it was, animal eating or otherwise. An odd sound came from under me, like a strangled scream, but I couldn't look down. Then came a sight I will never forget. The vampire tore into the woman bloodily, and scared my mind forever. This distraction allowed the werewolves to regroup though, and they quickly ripped and burned the vampire. But at what cost? As the others shifted back, I realized they were crying too. My sight was refracted slightly by the water in my eyes. I could tell in my heart she had been a great woman, but who was she?_

_A huge wolf, even bigger than Sam, lumbered almost drunkenly over to the woman, as the rest of the pack retreated back to the village. As he changed back, I noticed he was an older man, much older than any of the werewolves of today._

_"Aiyana, my third wife, how brave you were. How stupid and brave you were." The tears were spilling uncontrolled, unnoticed down his cheeks. This went on for several minutes. _

_"Father Taha Aki, is it safe to come down?" The voice was right under me! The man, presumably Taha Aki, spun around and looked straight at me. _

_"Yes, Catori, it's safe. How did you get up there?" Suddenly I realized I was watching this all through another's eyes._

_"Pachamama led me here after I heard the first screams. She told me to climb this tree to be safe. If I had known what she was going to do…" I could no longer see through the tears. _

_"Catori, no one in their right mind would blame you for not stopping your brave Pachama from saving the village. She saw more clearly than I that there was no way we could defeat that monster. Please climb down. Now that the monster is gone you are in more danger being up there." A soft laugh left my viewers lips at the light-hearted teasing. The descent was even quicker than the climb, but part of it was the fall at the end. In the need to seek comfort, the one who I saw through fell a little before being caught by Taha Aki. "I guess the squirrel spirit that possessed you in your younger years has moved on." A laugh echoed through the forest. _

_"Father, I have a confession to make." Taha Aki took up most of m y sight with his piercing eyes._

_"What is that?"_

_"I wouldn't have stopped Pachamama; I would have given myself up instead. You love her so much. For my 17th birthday last month Pachamama told me how you had always loved one another, but her status didn't allow her to be your first wife, and then a political alliance was crucial, so my Pachama had to wait to be your third wife. I would have sacrificed myself to save that love." It was silent for a moment._

_"Catori, I knew I named you Catori for a reason, I just didn't think this was it." His eyebrows crushed together in consideration, head hung. "I just hope I'm doing the right thing."_

_"What Father?" He lifted his head, determination in his eyes._

_"I'm granting you and all your female posterity the gift of being able to become werewolves." Her face froze in the same position mine was. "You will have the duty to have a clear head and take risks that we males can't see in the heat of the battle. You will have to be the clear-headed one, the leader. Your Pachamama was always my guiding star, you and your posterity shall be the alpha pack's star at that point in time. You will be the alpha female, the most powerful of all." _

* * *

**Familiar, did the ending passage seem? Good. Hehehe. Before, I had it, but now it is no longer there. Explained, much, I hope you liked. Explained, many more things will be. (Yoda speak is awsome.)**

**PS: Also, when Katy is thinking in the car, I'm going to add that she admits that she felt something when she was with Jacob, but nothing as powerful as what imprinting sounds like. **


	34. Questions Answered

_"Your Pachamama was always my guiding star, you and your posterity shall be the alpha pack's star at that point in time. You will be the alpha female, the most powerful of all."_

* * *

As I watched Nookomis remove her hands from our eyes, it took me a moment to organize my thoughts into anything coherent. This, vision, had answered my biggest questions and thankfully had only given me a few new ones. I finally knew how female werewolves were possible, but I didn't know why this wasn't common knowledge, and how my Nookomis had shown me that! After a moment, Nookomis began to speak.

"Catori, who was appropriately named spirit, was surprised to learn that after getting the ability to transform she also gained the ability to predict events from the next day. Her two daughters had abilities as well; one could hear extremely well and the other had weird experiences with birds. Most females who have the ability to transform also have an extra gift. Some, like tasting poison or predicting floods, have saved whole villages while others have had no need for the gifts they had. I have the gift to the the past and share it with others if I choose." Just then, Joshua walked into the room.

"Glad to see you're back safe girls." He placed a sandwich in front of me with peanut butter on one side and half strawberry jelly and half nuttella on the other. He also placed a glass of orange juice in front of Nookomis. "I know you didn't ask for anything, but you get tired after visions. Sorry Leah; I didn't know if you liked mayo: Katy doesn't."

"Mayo is great." She gave me a funny look, probably about the mayo, but I ignored her. I decided to get my other question answered. "Nookomis, why don't any of the guys know about us girls?" Nookomis sighed.

"Catori decided the women would be a second defense for the camp rather than offense. Women only change in time of great danger, usually to protect the tribe when there are no men." Leah and I nodded to show comprehension. Josh entered the room again and gave Leah her sandwich.

"Since this is all secret chick stuff, and you probably would be speaking so cryptically I couldn't understand you, I am going in the other room if that is alright." Nookomis gave a look I recognized as, I saw you take that cookie, but I won't tell anyone.

"I will need to speak to you later, but for now you may leave." After he was gone, it was Leah's turn to ask a question.

"What was that bit about Alpha female?" Nookomis eyes saddened.

"I realize why you are interested, but, as you have seen, being a werewolf does not change imprintation. Sam was always meant to be with Emily even after you changed. I believe you are meant as a helper to your brother, rather than a mate." Leah began to look pensive, but now I was a little frightened.

"What about me? As you said, Sam is taken." I immediately felt bad for napping Leah out of her pensive moment, but began to be confused when she started to squirm.

"Ummmm...Well, Katy...Sam is older and more experienced, but someone else is supposed to be leader by blood. Namely Jacob." Oh. That's...I'm not sure. Just then Josh's head popped in.

"Did I hear you talking about Jacob?" Leah looked at him weird, while I just laughed.

"A different Jacob. Just because you know a lot of Joshuas doesn't mean there aren't plenty of Jaocbs in the world."Josh just scowled at me and was about to leave when Nookomis spoke.

"Josh, wait a moment. Do you ladies have any other questions? No? Joshua, you may come in since it is time for your sister's part of the story." Shoot. I started off slowly.

"Josh saw me running out of the plane, and I had just reached an emergency exit door when the plane crashed into the water. When I got out, I swam as fast as I could away from it to escape the suction of the sinking airplane. Once I escaped that source of death, I stopped and realized my fight for life was only beginning." I stopped and took a deep breathe. It wasn't any easier telling it a second time.

"I was torn between swimming back to the plane to find other survivors or to conserve my energy. I decided to conserve my energy; I think part of that decision was the fear of what I would find. That night in the water...I didn't think that a sunrise could be that beautiful." I had gotten an appreciation of both the day and night sky while in the ocean, though the price had been incredibly steep; I chuckled inwardly as I remembered the moon that night had been full. The water had been cold and dangerous, and I avoided water of any depth to this day.

"Soon after the sun rose, I saw a faint speck of white on the horizon. It grew closer and closer until I realized it was a fairly large piece of the plane. I swam to it and spent the next half hour or so trying to get on it. When I finally accomplished the deed, it felt good to warm my frozen body. I loved that water, though, when the hot sun started beating down. That night I meet another person on the water and he had scavenged some food from the plane. He shared and talked during the night, but liked to stay underwater during the day." As I retold the story a second time I realized why, and exactly how much he had done for me. "After four days I was rescued by some fishermen. When I realized my family was dead, I didn't feel much like living, but the man came back. I learned his name was Edward, and he became a CSI agent with me. He's been a great friend.

About a year later I changed after I smelled a human-eating vampire in an apartment. An instinct told me to run into a forest, and there a tribe of male werewolves from Forks found me." I desperately hoped Nookomis didn't look into my past, there was too much pain and hurt there and I didn't want her to hurt too.

"Kat, you say human-eating vampires like there is another type of vampires." Surprisingly, it was Leah who explained.

"Well, there are some vampires who made a treaty with the Forks pack that they would only eat animals. They call themselves vegetarians." Nookomis looked at me with those deep eyes of hers.

"And Edward is one of these?" If I hadn't been sitting down, I would have fallen over. As it was, I had a mouthful of sandwich fall out. I took a moment to recuperate.

"Yes, but I didn't transform because of him." I wanted that point made very clearly.

"Do you know why?" A moment went by.

"They smell different."

"Ahh!" Her eyes widened and twinkled like I had just answered a powerful physiological question. "A powerful gift you have, especially if you are friends with these vegetarian vampires." Then Nookomis turned to look a Leah. "Do you want to know what your gift is?"

* * *

**Okay, I know I haven't posted in a while, but you guys haven't been reviewing. It's been making me sad. School starts soon so review if you want me to post again.**


	35. Truth will set you free

_Then Nookomis turned to look a Leah. "Do you want to know what your gift is?"_

* * *

"You know truth, a remarkable gift indeed. You deny it though, when it pleases you. Deny that Sam and Emily love each other more then you and Sam did. Refuse to ask if you even do love Sam anymore." Silent tears trickled down Leah's face as she had a staring contest with Nookomis. Suddenly she went limp.

This crippling of will seemed too private, so I turned to look at my brother. To my surprise, he looked like he had been punched in the gut. I glanced back to Leah, and when she lifted her head I saw a more confidant, brilliant look than I'd seen her have before.

"Thank you. The truth really can set you free." A fairly comfortable silent descended.

"Hey Sis? Your phone is in the kitchen and it was buzzing and ringing a lot."

"Shoot. That overprotective pack is worse than a momma bear."

"I would have to say more so. Momma bears don't call their children every five minutes once they have moved out of the house." Nookomis seemed rather tickled by my memories of changing text messages to vibrate so I could actually work. I was going to kill whoever invented them, but thankfully only the pack ever used them so I didn't have to worry about missing an important one. Leah snorted.

"Really? I guess I wouldn't really put it past them." I dashed into the other room and brought back the phone.

"Yep. 12 text messages and 3 voice messages. 2 texts and one voice from Sam. One from each of the other boys."

"Do they have a life?" asked Josh. Leah and I looked at each other.

"No," we chorused. Everyone laughed. When had I last laughed? Oh yeah, with Jacob. But before that it had been so long.

"Wait, what about the other voice and 5 texts?" I flinched. Why did my brother have to be so good at math?

"Jacob Black." Speaking of Jacob, that same smell I smelled with him was in the room right now. It wasn't regular werewolf, but I had smelled it on all the werewolf girls, the 'imprints.' I wanted to stop making conclusions, so I looked at my brother. He looked as love stricken as Edward. Not helping with the making connections deal!

I sighed. My curiosity was too strong. The truth will set you free. I chanted that a couple times to give myself courage. I the one who had faced burning building, pits, and armed killers was afraid. I looked over at Leah, and all was confirmed.

My brother had imprinted on Leah, and I had imprinted on Jacob.

I decided to go outside to clear my mind. Nookomis followed. "I don't think it's far enough in the past, but maybe your knowledge of love means you know they just imprinted." For practically the only time, Nookomis acted surprised.

"I saw a spark, but you are sure it is imprinting?" That was the big question. I was drawing conclusions, but if I was honest with myself, they were factual, logical conclusions.

"I can smell the chemicals of imprintation. If that's even a word." She chucked.

"That is quite the nose you have. Perhaps I better start invisibly chaperoning them." I couldn't tell if she actually thought they needed chaperoning of if she knew she was giving me the privacy to call someone.

I was almost sad when he didn't pick up after the first ring, but the second had barely begun when he did; I smiled.

* * *

**I'm thinking of just leaving a summary of what happens since I haven't really had time to write. I would still continue the other story, but the main storyline of this one is finished. I might do a final ****epilogue **scene, but only if I get a lot of reviews or I really feel like it. What I would really like is the motivation to finish the story. Review please!


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